


Say You Want A Revolution

by MadManta



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Almost AU, Anal Sex, Angst, Big Of Heart, Exhibitionism, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Hand Jobs, Humor, Jealousy, M/M, Manta rays are cute as hell, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Oral Sex, Romance, Slow Burn, Snorkeling, Stargazing, Suspicious Elena, Tattooed Rude, Unsafe Swimming, Voyeurism, dumb of ass, non-canon compliant, pining-related angst, timeline doesn't matter, tropical paradise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:35:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25187275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadManta/pseuds/MadManta
Summary: A rogue sect of AVALANCHE is taking Rufus Shinra's money and squandering it. The Turks are sent out to infiltrate and radicalize -- but there's a catch. They only invite couples out to their commune. Reno & Rude have to pretend they're an item in order to infiltrate, which leads them out into a perfect island paradise where they have to act out having emotions for each other (and pretend that they really *don't*, so as to not make it weird).Also, Elena was there.
Relationships: Reno/Rude (Compilation of FFVII)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 123





	1. Help!

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Jai, who suggested the fake dating trope. I may have gone a little overboard with it. Rating is set for future chapters.  
> Follow me on [Twitter @ MantaWords](http://twitter.com/mantawords) for updates & snippets!
> 
> NOTE: This fic is currently abandoned for rounded-out ending, but you'll at least get your slow burn + romance/sex in it. The final chapter was essentially going to be a training montage and have not much else going for it. If I end up returning to it, I'll plug it in, but for now, I'm marking this as complete. Thanks for all your support!

The meeting was a rare one. When Elena had been sent out on a long term mission, Rude and Reno had been left with most of the cleanup work that apparently Elena had been doing on her own; shaking down gangs and keeping the corporate peace. Tseng was happy to get them out of his hair with tasks like this that kept them out of the office.

By his less than pleased expression, this meeting was not one he’d wanted to call.

“You two and Elena are the only ones that know about Rufus’ extended involvement with them,” Tseng was saying of Avalanche and its various rogue factions. “He’s been trying to make the president look bad, but it’s not moving as quickly as he’d like.”

Rude and Reno sat in front of him, Reno’s feet kicked up with a bored look, Rude’s back straight with an infuriatingly attentive face. Neither said anything.

“We’ve heard there is a particularly large faction that has been ‘stewing’ for some time,” Tseng said, opening a file folder and looking through it as he spoke. “It can be particularly difficult to get an invite to their little colony, and even then it seems like they struggle with leadership.”

“Murdering each other for power?” Rude asked.

“No,” Tseng said, distaste evident in his voice. “The opposite. They’re very… Pacifistic. Which therein lies the problem. A pacifistic terrorist organization is doing nothing but draining our resources. You’ll need to infiltrate the group, and for lack of a better word, radicalize them.”

Rude’s face finally gained some expression, and Tseng would never admit it, but it was _hilarious_.

“Whaddya mean, radicalize? Like give ‘em a bunch of guns and send them on their way here?” Reno asked, actually kicking his feet off the desk. “Like feed ‘em propaganda?”

Tseng shrugged. “Something like that.”

Reno whistled, long and low. “That’s a new one for me, boss.”

Rude struggled to speak.

“It’s more than just that. As I mentioned, getting ‘in’ with them can also be very difficult. We have a connection, but it’s… Let’s just say the entire situation is a bit convoluted.”

Reno’s eyes narrowed, speaking for his partner while the other seemed to be tongue tied. “You putting us in immediate danger?”

Tseng shook his head, and he gave up on restraining himself, a soft smirk lighting up his face. “No. But our ‘in’ is a gregarious fellow named Edgar Shadel. He’s managed to secure an ‘in’ for a happy couple at their coastal commune.”

“Coastal?” Reno asked, eyes widening with a grin.

“Couple?” Rude choked, his ears going very red.

“Yes, it’s not in Midgar itself, but rather on one of the many islands dotting the opposite coast. And they only invite couples — something about saving living space and ‘keeping the peace’. As it is, you’ll have to pretend you’re more than bosom buddies.”

“Bosom buddies,” Rude said voicelessly. He may have had a hard time getting any air into his lungs.

“Ha! That’s easy for us, we’re already thicker’n water. What’re you worried about, Rude?” Reno glanced back at Rude, his voice changing with concern. “Whoa, Rude, you okay?”

“ _Yup_ ,” Rude said, coughing once and desperately glad he had sunglasses on.

“Is that going to be a problem, Rude? To be honest, I had already assumed the two of you…” Tseng pointed his index fingers at each of them, and then slowly moved them in to touch tips.

“ _No_ ,” Rude blurted out.

“Nah! Nothin’ like that,” Reno said, though Tseng swore he had looked uncomfortable for a moment.

Tseng nodded. “You’ll need to dress the part when you meet with Mr. Shadel. He’ll be with you on your trip out to the island.”

“No problem, boss. That file got everything we need?” Reno asked, who seemed to be much more interested in a job full of political intrigue than Rude was.

Tseng closed the folder and passed it across his desk to Reno, who took it with more enthusiasm than he normal. “You understand that once you’re out there, your contacts will be very limited. You’ll probably be out there for a while. We can work out a satellite PHS for you, but that’s going to be last resort usage.”

Reno waved his hand dismissively. “What could go wrong on an island of married pacifistic hippies?”

Tseng lifted an eyebrow. “You have a week to prepare.”

* * *

It was normally Rude who was very tolerant of Reno’s tendency to become irritatingly busy-bodied; being stuck in small places to wait for a sniper target was much more Rude’s forte, and it they stuck the two together on a mission, Reno would be crawling up the walls while Rude munched on a protein bar and filled out sudoku.

However, the non-stop traveling was wearing on Rude, now: the helicopter flight to Junon, the cargo ship ride to Costa del Sol, and finally a small sailing ship out to the island had sapped him of his patience. It was bad enough that Reno was hanging off the side of the little skiff with an enormous smile on his face, like he was made to sail the high seas, while Rude gripped the rails and tried not to throw up. He had never been so excited to get back on dry land.

Edgar Shadel — ‘Call me Shady!’ — had been with them every step of the way. They hadn’t even gotten to fly the chopper out to Junon, with all three of them relegated to the back seats of the passenger-friendly helicopter. At least on the cargo ship they had been able to get a little more breathing room, but Shady always seemed to be around the corner, always teasing about the two being ‘ _cute together_ ’. And now, the man was the captain of their small vessel, hollering encouraging words at Reno’s boisterous whooping.

The small boat trip was quite short, only an hour as the thing buzzed skippily along the waves, and when the island rose up, Rude was surprised to see a small mountain rising out of the horizon. The island itself had a lot of visible white beach and dozens of nice buildings further up the shoreline. There were dozens of people milling about, relaxing after the day’s activities. It was late afternoon, but the sun still hung up quite high, taunting Rude’s throbbing head. Neither he nor Reno had been able to spend much time out in the non-polluted air, and it was easy to forget how tiring the sun could be.

“Hey _Rude_!” Reno called, throwing himself next to the rail next to Rude with that infuriating grin. “Almost there, eh partner?”

Rude didn’t even respond, and Reno just laughed as he draped an arm around his back. He’d been very into playing it up for Shady’s sake, but in that moment Rude almost took comfort in it.

They sailed up to the broad dock set up further away from the pristine beach, next to a large, but run-down looking boathouse. A tall man in a goofy straw sunhat and finely trimmed blonde beard was rapidly approaching them, even as Shady hopped out onto the dock to tie the boat down.

“You must be Shady’s newcomers!” the man said, his voice a rich baritone and with a surprisingly posh accent despite his shaggy board shorts and comically tropical t-shirt that hung loosely over him. “I’m Paolo Alpin, I run the place. Please!” He reached out to help Reno off the boat, and Reno glanced over his shoulder with a smirk at Rude before taking the hand. “Let me help you both with bags and show you the place.”

Reno was trying to look the man up and down without being obvious; his clothes were too baggy for him to check for hidden weapons, and he smelled like sea salt and machine grease. Then Reno looked at his hand, frowning as he realized the black smudge had appeared on his hand.

“Oh, shit! Sorry!” Paolo cried with a smile, tugging a paisley kerchief out of his pocket to give to Reno. “I’ve been trying to get the damn generator to play nice.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll let you off with a warning,” Reno said flirtatiously even as he scrubbed at his hand. He could have sworn he caught a wink from under the sunhat.

Rude hopped onto the deck without a helping hand, managing to keep himself from swaying. “It’s good to finally be here. I’m Rude, and this is my partner, Reno,” he said, wincing that he’d said the wrong word in lieu of ‘boyfriend’.

Paolo didn’t seem to notice. “I’d shake your hand, but.” He grinned, wiping his hands on the back of his shorts. “Once Shady gets your luggage on the wagon I can get you both settled.”

“Way ahead of you, Alpin!” Shady hollered, dragging the frankly oversized bags out and over onto the dock. The ‘wagon’ was a rickety pallet on wheels, and Rude was happy to move the bags onto it to get moving. The sooner they ‘got settled’ the sooner he could lay in the dark and hope for his headache to recede. He was so preoccupied he hadn’t quite realized Reno was already schmoozing.

“I gotta be honest, I was real excited about being invited. Moreso than this one,” Reno said, hanging close to Paolo, handing back the handkerchief. Reno looked good, in a pair of airy light trousers and a slim tank with a frankly tacky wooden necklace. He looked very touristy, though Rude did scrunch his nose in realization at how pink his shoulders had become. “But to live in a place like this after _soo_ long in that dirty ass city.” Reno shrugged, flipping his hair back out of his eyes. He didn’t have his goggles to keep the long red strands at bay.

Rude was just in a white dress shirt and khakis, and the tongue lashing he’d received from Reno had been absurd. _“Thank god I snuck clothes into your fucking suitcase. You look a million years old. I can’t pretend to date someone who looks like he gives people hard candies instead of money, Rude. Look at me for fuck’s sake!”_

He was looking now, as Reno swept a hand up to push some of his hair behind his ear coyly, laughing at something Paolo said. Oh, he was looking, alright.

Rude coughed suddenly, grabbing the handle of the little wagon. “Shall we?” He glared a bit at Reno’s overt flirting, biting out, “ _Honey?_ ”

Reno just cackled at him, and Paolo winked at Rude this time.

Rude felt his cheeks grow hot as their host led the way down the dock. Paolo was rubbing his hands off on the kerchief as he gestured at the boathouse and described it as the most official place on the island, and thus the most boring: ship manifests, food orders, and similar piles of papers were stacked up and visible through salted-over windows. As they left the dock, more and more people became visible. Paolo gestured to their kitchens, a large open housing structure with open flame pits and great woks over grills, and rows of tables for prepping enormous quantities of food. He pointed out the evening yoga class over by an outcrop of trees, and chit-chatted about the various amenities. Reno was listening intently, nodding as though he were hanging off of every word. Probably he was: Reno was a master of reconnaissance, after all.

Rude felt a strange chill overcome him as they approached the line of small craftsman villas. Attractive stonework paths had been laid between the homes, and local beach flora grew up and around the stones. The villa Paolo took them to was charming enough, stucco walls painted a light blue and accented with large palm logs. Paolo stopped, turning towards them and shoving his hands in his pockets. He aimed a relaxed smile in Rude’s direction. “Welcome to town, kids. Shady is gonna be more help to you tomorrow, I have a lot of duties, so you’ll understand if I’m not around.” He inclined his head a bit. “The homes have small kitchenettes but we all eat together at the community kitchens. Dinner will probably happen in two, three hours. You’ll smell it, you’ll know. Have a good evening!” He turned and left, leaving the two Turks to slowly exhale.

Rude picked up most of the suitcases, leaving the smaller one to Reno, who chased after him with a laugh. “Eager to retire, eh partner?”

Rude just grunted in response when he opened the front door and shouldered his way in. The place was nicer than he’d thought, for a group of hippies living out here on their own. They were certainly using Rufus’ money well, with lovely pale wooden floors and moody accent walls, driftwood art hanging from one wall and tinkling lightly at the movement of air through the cottage. The front room was both the cozy kitchen and living area, which consisted of a bay window and a comfortable looking white sofa. Rude couldn’t even appreciate the place, walking to the first door he saw.

In the bedroom he let himself finally drop the suitcases, toe out of his shoes (which had _definitely_ tracked sand in, damn), and fall forward onto the white linen bedspread.

Reno took his time sniffing around a bit more, locating the quaint sea-glass accented bathroom, before he chased Rude into the bedroom. He leaned against the doorframe with a lopsided grin at the sight of Rude literally with his feet hanging off of the edge of the bed, his arms lined up next to his body with his palms up. “Wow. You still conscious, Rude?”

“It just hit me,” Rude said, his mouth muffled by the comforter. “What the hell we’re doing here. I’m tired. I have a headache. And you’re just so annoying.” 

That last part was cheekily uttered, and Reno rolled his eyes with a brief laugh in response. He stepped into the room, looking around to the enormous windows on one side, letting in great beams of light that landed across the bed and the gray wooden dresser. He stepped over to shut the curtains to block out the relentless rays. “Place isn’t bad. And the bed’s huge, so as long as you keep to your own side, your snoring will sound distant enough for me to fall asleep.”

Rude let himself roll over onto his back, the new darkness a relief as he pulled his sunglasses off, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He’d missed the snoring joke altogether. “You’re still okay with—all this? I saw there was a couch out there, I could—”

“Yeah, seriously, a couch?” Reno said, steamrolling over Rude’s second guessing. “This place is _way_ nicer than I’d thought. I can definitely see why Rufus is mad about this ‘terrorist organization’ wasting his precious gil. I was expecting like, wood slab on some cinderblocks. This place stinks like a vacation retreat.”

“It’s funny, because it’s just the thing Rufus probably would want to spend his money on, if he were really allowed,” Rude chuckled. He felt the bed shift as Reno sat on the opposite side, so he tipped his head back to look at the other man from behind. “God. I wasn’t kidding, though. I’m exhausted.”

“Well, why don’t you get some shut eye?” Reno asked, his fingertips sliding bumpily over the textured quilt. “I’m rearing to go. Who knew I liked boats, as long as they were little?” He hopped back up to his feet. “Just gonna change, maybe shower, schmooze. Scope out the place. Bring you some food back? I saw there’s like, a mini fridge in that tiny-ass kitchen.”

Rude sighed, eyes shutting even as he moved his hands to start unbuttoning his shirt. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“Course you will,” Reno said with a shrug, kicking his large suitcase open to pull out a fresh set of clothes and a towel. “I ain’t worried about it. We’re gonna be here a while. Might as well enjoy it.”

Rude forced himself to sit up, shouldering out of his shirt. Reno just gave him a little salute as he turned to leave. “Sorry if I come in at two in the morning and wake you up.”

“You’ll make it up to me,” Rude chuckled, and watched Reno disappear. Across the house he heard the sound of the water from the shower turning on. The concept of a shower sounded really good, but Rude could only muster the strength to strip down to his skivvies and then fall comfortably, deeply asleep.

* * *

Rude was a morning person; even when the curtains drawn, even with the extra three or four hours of sleep, his body seemed to sense the sun. He was groggy from oversleep, stretching arms and legs out with a soft sigh when the back of his hand slapped against something warm and soft.

He lurched backwards, realizing he’d managed to slap Reno’s bare back. The man was technically on his side of the bed, but sprawled out with the blanket barely hanging off his noticeably naked ass. Rude jumped out of bed, pulling the blanket higher up on Reno for modesty. He was going to have to have a talk to him about _boundaries_.

His head in a better place than the day before, he was now able to leisurely explore the small house and enjoy what turned out to be a roofless outdoor shower. A carpet of moss was growing outside the shower door as a mat. This place was more quaint than he’d imagined.

Back in the bedroom he was able to peruse his suitcase, knowing Reno would still be asleep for a few hour hours, so he didn’t mind crouching on the ground in only a towel. Along with his collection of breezy white tops were some positively garish shirts that he was sure Reno had stuffed in. He pulled out the yellow one with dark pineapple prints and one of his more aged pair of jeans and headed out the front door, flipping his shades onto his face.

He’d missed out on introducing himself to the locals yesterday, so that morning he made his way to the kitchens. Shady was already there and, to Rude’s chagrin, gave him a hug before throwing him an apron and pointing at a station to prep the morning’s muesli and a fruit-infused raita for the commune.

Two hours of listening in on casual conversations went fast, and Shady told him to come back to the fields past the medical house near the back of the little village for some work they needed a particularly strong man for. He’d chosen not to notice if Shady had been flirting with him.

He came back with a bowl of the grain and yogurt concoction for Reno. The man was standing by the window in the living room in a very short pair of shorts and a slim, baggy tank top. He was drinking a glass of water, tired eyes blinking sleepily out at the birds flitting by and the waves in the distance. He looked up at Rude and grinned, head tilting. “I wanted coffee, but all they have is a kettle. Gonna have to find beans. Or tea, or something. Is that…?”

“Breakfast,” Rude nodded, handing him the ceramic bowl.

Reno took it gratefully, tossing himself down onto the large cushion in the window to eat it. “Hopefully I didn’t wake you. Was out real late with Shady and his frankly villainously good looking boyfriend, Fierro. Did you know this place has hot springs? And couples’ yoga?”

Rude quirked his eyebrow at him as Reno continued to talk and work his way through his meal. Rude just made the appropriate responses, thinking more about how to get closer to Mr. Paolo Alpin than he was about whatever the hell “couples’ yoga” was.

“…Rude? Rude!”

He shook his head, looking up to see Reno in front of him, holding out a bottle of sunblock. “Jeez, man, you still in there?”

“Sorry. Had a lot on my mind,” he said, grabbing the bottle reflexively from his partner. “What’d you say?”

“I said, can you get me?” Reno replied, rolling his eyes. He turned around, pulling that thin shirt up and over his back and shoulders.

Rude got a flash of that naked body in bed this morning and cleared his throat, squirting the lotion onto his hands to tentatively spread it on Reno’s back. “Do you think you could not sleep naked?” he blurted out.

“Huh?” Reno turned his head to look at Rude over his shoulder, teal eyes narrowing. “What’s the problem? We gotta pretend we’re fuckin’ out there, anyway.”

“Exactly,” Rude said, working over one side of his back. “That’s a lot on my shoulders. I’d like to be able to come home and have stuff be uh, normal.”

Reno jerked away from him, the shirt falling down his back and smearing with badly placed sunblock. “Well ex _cuse_ me for feeling comfortable, asshole,” Reno hissed. “Fine. I’ll do my own shit when we’re out of _public eye_. Whatever.” He yanked the bottle out of Rude’s shock-frozen fingers and stomped back towards the bedroom.

“Uh,” Rude said to the air, but Reno had slammed the door shut. “The hell?” he whispered, and decided that was definitely the best time to get the hell back out to Shady to work on whatever it is he’d needed.

* * *

Reno had haphazardly tried to put sunscreen on by himself, but was too irritated to bother doing a thorough job. Fucking _Rude_ , making it _weird_. He just shoved his feet into sandals and left the cottage with a sour disposition, kicking rocks and fat leaves that had blown into the cobblestone paths.

The only way he could think to calm down was making his way to the dock to sit off the edge of it, kicking his ankles in the pale turquoise water while he let the sun bake away his frustrations. He wasn’t sure how long he had sat out there getting a proper dose of vitamin D, but he was ready to explore and in somewhat better spirits after that.

He’d already seen the kitchens, the docks, and an outdoor atrium with a massive woodwork lattice over the top; that was where he’d seen the yoga class, which then turned into a night of small bonfires and dancing with Fierro. There were still many buildings he wasn’t familiar with that weren’t domiciles, and he decided to scope them out.

One of the buildings looked like it could have been a school, but the place was conspicuously free of children, which Reno was thankful for. He wasn’t good with kids, since they disarmed him utterly. Lying to them and manipulating did him no good, so he was usually left with playing pretend and praying someone would save him. Most of the ‘classrooms’ had a large open air wall that could be closed with wheeling glass doors. There didn’t seem to be any in session as he popped his head into each one. Painting? Pottery, maybe? He couldn’t tell what was done here, other than how there were so many shelves of supplies and paint stains on the floors.

He heard a soft clearing of throat and an “Excuse me.” Reno flipped around, shocked he hadn’t heard the footsteps, when his mouth dropped open.

Elena stood in front of him in a bikini top and baggy denim overalls with big deerskin gloves on her hands. She was tan and her arms were frankly _muscular_ , and she looked like a damn farmer’s wet dream in a big floppy straw hat.

“ _Elena_!?” he hissed.

“Reno?” she asked in equal surprise, and then laughed, stepping back to look at him. “What in the hell? I guess I’m not surprised you’re who Tseng sent out to me. Who else would he send out?”

“ _This_ is where you’ve been?” Reno said, voice still a snake’s hiss. “Drinking coconut drinks and getting beach body ready in a fucking hippie commune?”

“Welcome aboard,” she said, rolling her eyes. She put her hands on her hips. “You look like you’re hating every minute of it, too, in booty shorts.”

Reno folded his arms and stuck his tongue out at her. “I’m _in character_. What, are you a for real farmer now?”

Elena winked at him. “Shut up. I teach arts. I saw a shadowy figure walking around my classrooms and figured I’d see who was trying to steal unfired pottery again, but instead I find you. How did you get around the couple rule?”

“How did _you_?”

“I was hired to teach,” Elena said, shrugging. “Not to ‘join’ necessarily. I guess that’s why it’s been hard for me to really infiltrate. Paolo’s never really trusted me.” She tipped her head, grinning. “Probably shouldn’t be seen with me too much if he’s around. Anyway, answer the question.”

Reno blew out a stream of air to blow his bangs out of his eyes. “Rude’s here, too.”

“HA! I _knew_ it! How long you two been, you know…?”

Reno stared at her and then grew agitated, swatting at her muscular arm. “Fuck off! We aren’t _actually_.” He tried not to sound bitter at the memory of the conversation from the morning. “We’re _playing along_ , dumbass.”

Elena looked at him the same way Tseng had. Reno hated that ‘wait, really? …wait, why not?’ look. “Oh. Well… Where is he?”

“Hell if I know, I’m not his actual keeper,” Reno grumbled, and folded his arms. “I guess we could go find him. He should probably know you’re here.”

“Hmm, big guy like that? I have some ideas where he could be.” She led them out of the school building and past an absurdly romantic path lined with curved palm trees. “You should really consider taking one of my classes,” she was saying, “give us an excuse to talk that won’t make anybody think twice.”

Reno was trying to be very observant about his surroundings, but everything was so damn _nice_ it was distracting. “Huh? Sure, whatever, I’ll get some crayons out with you, I guess.”

“Crayons!” Elena harrumphed, shoving her hands into her large pockets. “The nerve.”

The passed by several roads lined by cottages similar to the one he and Rude were staying in before the space opened up to a wide open field. There, with another three men, was a shirtless Rude, swinging an axe into chunks of palm logs. This way his tattoos were out on display: one enormous sleeve on his left arm, a half-sleeve on his right, and a bold piece spread across his back that curled around the top of his shoulders, hooking into the sleeve designs. It wasn’t possible to ignore the glittering nipple rings, either.

There was also a small audience of women seated nearby and not-so-subtly ogling.

“Damn,” Elena said with a lopsided grin. “Maybe I was wasting my time staring at Tseng.”

“Back off, sister,” Reno said before he could stop himself. His cheeks felt a bit more pink after that.

The two approached the field, watching as the four men worked on clearing the area of obstacles: one trunk or stump at a time. Rude looked good like this, a sponge for the sun, torso wet with his efforts. He looked up, frozen. He had shades on, but Reno knew the man’s eyes were narrowing in on Elena next to him. He said something to his colleagues before throwing the axe into a stump and walking over to the two of them with the kind of stalking cadence that made Reno feel like prey. A tiny shiver made its way down his spine at that thought.

“Reno!” Rude said, his voice a completely unfamiliar tone: affectionate and chastising. “Jeez, sugar, you’re already bright red!”

Elena raised an eyebrow at him as Rude wrapped his tattooed arms around Reno, pulling him up against that sweaty wet body and pressing their lips together. “What happened to your sunblock, baby?”

From behind them, the peanut gallery of oglers made the kind of sounds that Reno had only heard in obtrusive ‘filmed in front of a live studio audience’ TV shows. He was fully unable to form a sentence, lips still burning from Rude kissing him.

Rude _kissed him._ On the _mouth_.

“Uhhh…”

Rude looked up at Elena, pulling his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose to look her up and down. “Who’s this?” He let go of Reno, though kept close to him as he turned toward Elena. “Did you find him face down in the sand?”

“I’m Elena,” she said teasingly, struggling to keep up with the facade at the sight of Reno being flustered to the point of silence, not to mention Rude’s brash half-nudity. “I teach a bunch of art classes. I found him weaseling around in my rooms.”

Rude stuck out his hand for her to shake it. “Sorry about that, we just got here yesterday and this one can be the embodiment of sneakiness.”

Reno finally found his tongue, knowing the others were still nearby and still listening. “If I can stalk through a place I’ll feel more comfortable,” he said apologetically. “Sorry, again. Didn’t mean to um…”

Elena waved her hand at him. “No problem. Well, we’ve found your man. I’d better get back and set up for my post-lunch class. If you need anything else, you know where to find me!”

“Thanks,” Rude said, and pressed his lips into Reno’s hair. “Sorry. For pissing you off. But you’re already sunburnt. Can I please take care of that for you?”

That shivering feeling was back, though now that he thought about it, it could have been something else entirely. “Yeah. I may have overdone it. I feel a little cold,” he admitted.

“Heat stroke?” Rude asked, his concern completely genuine. Reno gave a noncommital shrug, and Rude sighed as he turned around, shouting back at his colleagues that he had to take care of ‘the little one’. They threw him a thumbs up and he slid a protective arm over Reno’s shoulder. “C’mon, let’s get you home. I have something for that.”

They passed a few people on their way back to their home, but they walked in companionable silence. The air inside the house felt cool in the shade, and Reno threw himself stomach first onto the small couch.

Rude frowned at him. He filled a glass with water and brought it to him before disappearing into the bathroom, where he’d stashed a bottle of sunburn soothing gel. “Shirt off, Reno,” he said.

No nicknames here, Reno thought, and gulped the water down in one go before pulling the tank top off. There were a few unburnt smears in the shape of their fingers, and Rude sighed.

“Sorry, again. Didn’t want you to get all pissed off and get hurt ‘cause of it,” Rude said, sitting on the couch as Reno pushed himself up to his knees, back to his partner.

“It’s my fault,” Reno said, staring forward. When the first squirt of the gel hit his bright red shoulders, he hissed inwardly. “Boundaries aren’t bad. I shouldn’t have gotten all mad ‘cause you need them.”

“We both do,” Rude said, using broad hands to rub the aloe in. “It’ll make things easier. And what the hell? Elena?”

Reno was glad they could gloss over the ‘easier’ part. “I know! I had no idea she was _here_. Thanks for that, Tseng,” he laughed. He hissed again when Rude’s hand came up to the back of his neck, and then worked down his red arms.

“He definitely knew. God only knows if there are more surprises.” Rude frowned at that thought. “I hope there aren’t.” He flipped the cap closed, leaning back over the side of the couch with a groan. “Dammit—hang on.”

Reno looked over his shoulder in confusion as Rude got up and disappeared into the bedroom. A moment later a tingling feeling of _green_ came over him, and he laughed as he realized Rude had fucking cast Cure on him. “The hell’s the point of this sticky goo?” Reno asked, though when he looked, his arms were still quite red.

“Just didn’t want your skin to bubble up. Can’t just cure a sunburn that easy. You should know.” Rude came back out of the bedroom, quirking a brow at him. He was in the process of pulling his gloves back off — he must have pulled them on to cast the spell — and Reno stared at him, shirtless, tattooed, and in those gloves, and he felt a very unfamiliar pang of want twist around in his gut. “Shit, I left my shirt back there. I’m gonna go get back to work. Rest up. A lot of that burn should be gone after a few hours.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sure,” Reno said, standing up to stretch gingerly. “I’ll even leave my underwear on,” he said with a wink.

Rude rolled his eyes at him. “Thanks, partner,” he said as he breezed out the front door.

Reno _may_ have napped on Rude’s side of the bed.


	2. Act Naturally

_“What are you so worried about, partner?” Reno asked as they loaded their baggage onto the helicopter. “People already keep assuming stuff about us. Now we can really fuck around with people.” He grinned, all sharp teeth. “It’ll be fun.”_

_Rude’s eye roll was not visible, but Reno could see it in the tightening of his brows, the slight vein pulse at the side of his neck. “A game, huh. Great.”_

_Reno slugged him in the shoulder. “That’s right ya big lug, I love games. Now get your ugly khaki ass aboard.”_

Reno was staring out the window, legs bent up and arms resting over each, with a less than excited look on his face. He was less sure how much he loved ‘games’ now. Reno had always carried a torch for his partner — how could he not? — and so when people had assumed there were extra parts to their friendship, he never corrected them. Hell, he liked to play it up when he could, even though Rude would usually give him an amused cold shoulder in response.

That had been fine when Reno was well aware that Rude wasn’t interested in him and would never be. But the mission parameters had to have Rude stop giving that cold shoulder and instead fully _play the game_. Reno had been fully prepared for that to the extent that he thought Rude could, but he had never in a million years expected Rude to just kiss him straight on the mouth on their second day there.

God, he’d wanted to kiss him countless times before. When Rude had pulled him up of the ground after a rough mission and there was blood in the corner of Rude’s mouth. When they had stumbled out of a bar after a particularly bad mission, or stumbled out of a bar after a really _good_ one. When they sat next to each other, bored, flicking paper footballs through each other’s fingers. When Rude would stitch him up after he’d beaten the tar out of a terrorist and split his hands open.

And now that he’d gotten that little chaste kiss — that _fake_ kiss — he wasn’t entirely sure he could play the game. Rude had simply taken on the role, which meant the kiss from him meant nothing. It was _supposed_ to, because, as Reno reminded himself, they _weren’t_ dating. Rude had rebuffed that desire enough times for Reno to know that was an unchangeable fact. It was enough that he’d told him to put some damn clothes on while he slept. Rude didn’t see Reno in any such light and hadn’t appreciated Reno trying to get him to.

The front door swung open with a clatter and he jerked out of his reverie. He realized his back was killing him, as he’d been slightly hunched over, and he let his legs drop down and off of the window seat with a groan. “Shiiiit,” he hissed. How long had he been brooding in the damn window?

Rude had a net bag over his shoulder as he came back in, his sunglasses slightly askew. “Reno?”

Reno rubbed at the small of his back with a groan. “Sup?” he asked, looking u p with a growing sense of curiosity. “What’s in the bag?”

“You alright?” Rude asked, lifting an eyebrow as he walked over to the couch.

“Fine, just uh, fell asleep in a bad position,” Reno lied.

“You okay to uh, do something a little out of your comfort zone?” Rude asked tentatively, swinging the bag out in front of himself.

Reno’s eyes narrowed in on the wide mesh and caught sight of long fat tubes and fins. “Is that…?”

“Snorkeling stuff,” Rude said, his expression apologetic as his eyebrows drew up in the center. “Shady insisted we go out with some of the others, and uh, Elena backed him up on it.”

“Snorkeling like, out in the ocean?” Reno asked. He knew the answer to that question, but he still asked it, suspicion laced in his words.

“Yeah. You know, that thing you enjoyed so much on the boat?” Rude’s expression was growing more amused. “Go get your suit on. If you’re up for it.”

Reno shot to his feet, folding his arms. “Why wouldn’t I be up for it?” he said, and then stared at the bag. “I just, uh…”

Rude looked at him over his sunglasses, deep brown eyes glittering. “You afraid of the water?”

“It’s not _fear_ , I’m being _prudent_ ,” Reno said, spreading his hands. “You know the ocean is full of dolphins, right?”

Rude’s mouth was finally tipping upwards in the corners. “Uh, yeah. The friendly jesters of the sea?”

“More like horny assholes of the deep!” Reno said. “Dolphins will straight up fuck you, man. I’ve heard about it.”

A noise so inappropriately loud burst out of Rude it sounded like a bark. “Ex _cuse_ me?”

“Yeah man! They’re practically rapists. They toy with you, too! I heard, in Junon, there’s this dolphin that will literally throw you into power lines. They’re murder machines.”

Rude had a hand over his mouth, muffling laughter so hard that his shoulders were jerking up and down with the effort.

“All I’m saying is, if I see a dolphin, I’m getting the hell out of dodge, Rude! You better protect my ass!” Reno stomped towards the bedroom to dig out his swim trunks.

Rude finally got a hold on his laughter, clearing his throat. “Fine, I’ll keep an eye on your ass. Happy?” He started laughing again.

Reno scowled as he threw his clothes off and yanked his suit on. “Not especially,” he grumbled. He stepped back out in his trunks and nothing else. “You’re gonna have to put sunblock on me, again,” he said, almost nervous.

Rude shrugged, tossing the bag in Reno’s arms as he went into the bedroom to find his own suit. “Of course I will. Besides, I’m sure they’ve got lifeguards.” His voice became muffled, and Reno tried not to listen to the zippering of their bags. They really needed to properly unpack, didn’t they?

He frowned at the fat plastic goggles and the flat little vests within, clutching the thing to his chest in irritation.

Rude stepped out, buttoning up a short-sleeved white linen shirt, and Reno nearly flipped around in embarrassment at the sight of him in what was _certainly_ not swim trunks. His swimsuit was small, in the shape of tight boxer briefs but purple and covered in small red Bombs with sunglasses on.

It was adorable _and_ hot, and Reno was going to die, wasn’t he?

Rude had the enormous bottle of sunscreen in his hands already. “Turn around.”

Reno just turned off his brain — at this point, reduced down to a dick running frantically on a hamster wheel — while Rude covered him from neck to waistline, rubbing the lotion into him with methodical efficiency. “Grab us some towels, and a shirt for yourself,” Rude said afterward, grabbing the bag of snorkeling accouterments and heading out the door.

The snorkeling area was a good fifteen minute walk from the cottage, and in that time Reno was able to calm down and form rational thoughts again. On the beach was at least one familiar face: Elena, in that familiar bikini top she’d had on under the overalls, and bottoms that looked strikingly similar in shape to Rude’s own. She was standing with three others, an average looking man and woman and a particularly heavy-set but jovial looking man as their third.

Elena waved them over, her smile broad in a way that implied it was _very_ important the duo meet these three. “Hey, guys! Meet Biggs, Jessie, Wedge. This is Rude and Reno, they got here yesterday.”

Biggs and Jessie gave courteous nods, but Wedge went all in, reaching out to shake both their hands. “It’s so cool to get new people here! Welcome! You ready to see some super cool fish and stuff?”

Rude tipped his head. “You guys ever get dolphins out here?”

Reno did his best to appear unaffected, fury starting to burn in him. If Rude made fun of him _in front of strangers—_

“Dolphins, out here? Nah, unfortunately. Love those guys.”

“Ah, okay. Just wondering. I hate the damn things,” Rude said, and Reno felt that irritation disappear in a confused _blip_. Huh? “They’re too smart, you know?”

Wedge almost looked offended, but Jessie laughed easily. “I know what you mean! I always thought they might steal my wallet when I wasn’t looking.”

Rude hooked an arm around Reno’s waist, pulling him in. “You ready to go, babe?”

That _blip_ feeling was back, like someone had shut off the terminal in his brain. “Oh! Uh. Yeah. Totally. I’m uh, kind of a newbie to this stuff, so…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” Wedge said, giving him a thumbs up and a disarmingly friendly smile. “This stuff’s easy. There’s a coral formation real close, we don’t have to go out far at all!”

The group of six oddfellows got geared up together, Reno watching Jessie, Biggs and Wedge all harass each other in various ways. Jessie pulled on Biggs’ goggles and let them go, slapping him in the face; Biggs covered the top of Wedge’s snorkel with his mouth and blew hard into it, causing Wedge’s cheeks to puff out with an awkward cough; Wedge stepped on the tip of Jessie’s flipper, causing her to windmill her arms to keep from tripping. They all laughed and swatted at each other, and Reno felt his eyes narrow in on them.

They were awfully close, he thought. It was almost heartwarming if it didn’t raise alarm bells, especially with how Elena had looked at them.

Elena waded out with the other Turks, and Reno found the slim snorkeling vest to be less of a bother than he’d expected. Rude hadn’t even bothered, leaving the vest and his shirt on the shoreline, much to Wedge’s concerned chagrin. He would have felt self conscious if Elena hadn’t also put the vest on, prodding him with amusement.

Once in the water it was easy to split off from the three friendly strangers, instead easing himself into the unfamiliar territory of staring at fish from the clear blue surface. He wasn’t a bad swimmer — they all had to have unique sets of physical skills — but it was more about being able to swim to safety, rather than leisurely enjoying sea life. It was hard to relax until he’d dunked his head under all the way, the sound of waves crashing and laughing voices muffled now to the bubbling, undulating thrum of the ocean.

He let his shoulders relax, kicking forward when he saw a school of bright orange and yellow fish swirling out of dull pink coral, and had to admit that it was, if nothing else, neat.

He heard a loud swoosh and felt more than saw Rude swim up beside him. Reno surfaced, spitting out the snorkel, to see Rude grinning at him in a way that made his heart clench. Normally Rude would have to get full on drunk to get that expression. “You really like this shit, huh?” Reno asked, only a little out of breath.

“I grew up in Junon. Dirty water, but still enjoyed swimming.” Rude grinned at him with a shrug. “You doin’ okay?”

“I’m fine,” Reno scoffed, even as his chin slipped under the water for a moment. He spat out seawater and Rude laughed, though it wasn’t a mean laugh.

“Good.” Rude’s hand came out, sliding over the side of his neck in a comforting squeeze. “I’m gonna swim out a little further.”

“I swear to Shiva, if you bring back a dolphin,” Reno hissed, though his face was trembling in a smile at the hot feeling still on his neck.

“And upset my partner? Never,” Rude teased, and dove away from him in a move that was slick as spit. He watched him swim like a damn mermaid away from him while Reno bobbed awkwardly in the water. He nearly screamed when Elena’s hand came out to his shoulder, though he would say later it was simply a manly yelp.

“Dammit, Elena!” Reno said, flailing his hands on the water. She laughed, swimming in front of him with a sly grin on her face.

“So what’s up with that?” she asked, gesturing in the direction Rude had motored off in.

“With what?” Reno growled, splashing her in the face. He popped the snorkel mouthpiece back in and sank down, looking at her with only his eyes above the water like a grouchy crocodile.

“You’re real good at playing the blushing virgin to your Casanova boyfriend over there,” Elena hummed, swimming around him in a predatory circle. “I’d almost think you were having a hard time with it, huuuh?”

Reno swam away from her, trying not to scowl while he observed more fish, one lazy turtle, and some weird flat thing he couldn’t quite make out in the distance. When he popped back up, she had left him alone, but so had everyone else. He whipped his head around to see where the nearest person was, but he could only make out snorkels closer to shore, and he had veered further away in his irritation.

He let the mouthpiece fall out of his mouth again as he pushed himself further up out of the water, treading increasing as his panic did as well. He heard a particularly loud splash and turned, spying Rude jackknifing through the water and popping up in front of him like it was nothing.

Rude squinted at him. “What’re you doing clear out here?”

“Hating Elena,” Reno said, and had to admit that it sounded like he was pouting. “Whatever, we’re not that far out.”

“We are,” Rude corrected, but shrugged, sticking close to Reno. “Did you see the ray coming over here?”

“The… ray?”

“Manta ray,” Rude said with a nod, sliding an arm around Reno’s shoulders and turning him. “Small one, that flat boy.”

Reno made a small sound of surprise. It had gotten a lot closer in his short panic earlier, but indeed, the big flat fish was swooping toward them in a lazy glide. “Oh,” he said softly.

“Lemme see,” Rude whispered, a grin on his face as he pushed away from Reno. The ray’s fin tip brushed against his leg and Reno jerked backwards as he watched in horror. The ray swam up to Rude and planted itself vertically on his chest, and Rude had such a goofy look of wonder on his face, Reno couldn’t even be mad.

“The hell is it doing?” Reno asked nervously.

“Why, you jealous?” Rude asked with a grin.

“Bitch, I might be,” Reno called. Rude looked obscenely happy, and that strange upset feeling was tugging at Reno again. They really just were on vacation, enjoying each other’s company, but it was a big dumb sea pancake that made Rude look so happy, not _Reno_.

Rude raised his eyebrows, though with the large goggles on it mostly just moved them up and down on his face. Reno was mad that he was so charmed by it.

“Oh—whoops—” Rude said, but Reno didn’t catch why. Instead he felt the manta ray fling itself off of Rude and attack Reno instead, causing the redhead to shriek and drop back under the water. Unfortunately he hadn’t put the snorkel back in his mouth, taking in shocked gulps of salt water, his arms thrashing in panic at the sudden onslaught of one extremely unwanted fish.

“Shit—Reno!” Rude yelled, watching the slim man slip under the water, and dove down after him. He reached him in three swift kicks, wrapping his arm around him and bringing him to the surface. Reno gagged and coughed, entire body wriggling in terrified alarm, and Rude pulled the goggles off of his head and pulled the man close to him, wrapping his arms around him as Rude shifted onto his back.

They slowly moved back to shore this way, Reno’s arms wrapped tightly around Rude’s torso as he sputtered and tried to catch his breath, choking. Tears stung his eyes, but Rude pretended not to notice as he guided them back towards the shallows. They finally stopped when they were sitting in a foot of warm turquoise water, Reno on his lap with his head buried in Rude’s chest. Rude threw the goggles over his head, hearing them land on the beach with a thunk.

“Whoa! You alright?” Wedge called from down the beach, and Rude simply gave him a thumbs up before returning his hand to Reno.

“You alright?” Rude asked, pretending Wedge hadn’t just yelled the same question.

“Mortified,” Reno admitted quietly, not wanting to lift his face from Rude’s tattooed chest. “I don’t know what just happened.”

“Panic. You’re fine, now.” Rude stroked a hand up and down the slim, muscular back. “That’s why we do it in groups. That shit’s not unusual.”

Reno finally turned his face to the side. “You were havin’ fun and I fucked it up.”

Rude stared at him. “Idiot,” he murmured fondly, shaking his head. “Was having fun with _you_ , I shouldn’t have let a fish torpedo itself at you. I fucked that up.”

Reno looked up at him, hair limp and eyes shining the same color as the damn tropical water. Rude swallowed hard. In normal circumstances he would have looked away from that intense gaze, but he felt drawn into it now, as Reno scooted forward just a bit. “Well, you saved me, so, I guess we’re even.” A proper grin began to grow on Reno’s face, and the familiar sight of it filled Rude with relief.

And maybe something else, considering in the next moment, Reno’s eyebrows popped up. “Whoa, big guy, you packin’ heat down there?” he leered, and in the next moment Rude threw him aside into the shallow water, blushing hard as he hunched over himself.

Reno laughed it off, standing up to awkwardly flipper-walk back to the beach. “I’ll let you cool off!” he teased, even though he was glad he’d been thrown off before he’d just ground down on the very obvious erection Rude had been sporting moments earlier. Wedge was bounding over to him, which helped keep Reno’s own arousal tucked safely away.

“Did somethin’ happen out there?” Wedge asked, eyebrows drawing up.

“Yeah, I drank a little salt water. We’re all good,” Reno said, closing his eyes with a well-practiced fake smile. “Sorry to worry you.”

“What about him?” Wedge asked at the sight of Rude laying face down in the water.

“Tiny swimsuit, cute boyfriend,” Reno said, spreading his hands. That fake smile turned into a much more devious, genuine one. “Just give him a minute.”

Wedge nodded slowly, mouth forming an ‘o’. “Niiiiice bro! Since you guys are good, I think we’re gonna head to the kitchens. We’ll see ya later!” He saluted him, which was a little weird, and then headed back to his crew down the beach. Elena was with them, still chatting and laughing.

Reno took all the gear off, toweling himself off and stretching back into the sand, toes spreading out after getting crunched in the flippers. Now that he was out of the water and dry, he already missed it. He’d had a close call, and yet he felt a strong calling to go back. It may have been a disastrous first adventure, but it wouldn’t be his last.

Plus it hadn’t been all bad. He’d made Rude hard. And damn, he was pretty sure it had been _huge_. Rude emerged from the ocean about ten minutes later, looking nonplussed, and Reno could not help but let his eyes narrow in on the already sizeable bulge of a limp dick. He wished he’d at least given himself more than three damn seconds on the damn thing. Instead he forced himself to look away, throwing the other towel at Rude as he approached.

“Feel better?” Reno teased.

“Like a million gil,” Rude said, rolling his eyes as he tossed the gear off and dried off long, muscular limbs. Reno closed his eyes, letting the lowering sun light up the back of his eyelids.

“Wanna go get food?” Reno asked.

“Yeah. Starved,” Rude replied abruptly. “But I’m gonna put on some pants.”

Reno cackled then, pushing himself up to standing. “Likewise. Think you gave me some inadequacy issues, partner.”

Rude rolled his eyes at him, throwing the net bag at him. “Shut up and put the equipment away, asshole,” he chuckled, glad for the context-change in the earlier situation.

* * *

The sun was setting by the time Reno and Rude made it to the kitchens. They grabbed bowls of food — rice covered in heaping fruit and some fried meat and a thick coconut sauce — and sat down at one of the large tables where Elena had been chatting up a fit, dark-skinned woman.

Elena hardly even looked up, deep in conversation with the woman, so Reno just winked and dug into his food. It had been a long damn day of ups and downs, and he was glad to turn his brain off and just enjoy the warm sweet-and-savory meal.

Two women sat down opposite him, on either side of Rude. Reno thought they looked vaguely familiar, but he was preoccupied with his food. At least, he was, until they both began to talk to Rude, who was very politely responding to them.

“You just got here, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“How’d we get so lucky? A lot of the guys here can’t throw their weight around.”

Rude pushed his sunglasses up his nose. “Uh huh.”

“You’ll definitely be able to make that clearing faster. We’ve been waiting ages for someone who can really rip it up.”

“Shady’s crew seemed to be doing just fine without me.”

“We’ve _never_ seen anyone pull a stump right out of the ground before.”

Rude shoved his spoon in his mouth and didn’t respond.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’ve got muscles we’ve never heard of.”

Rude’s cheeks darkened and Reno’s eyes narrowed in across the table. They were definitely part of the oglers from Rude’s chopping wood escapades. Ripped a stump out of the ground? How long had they been _watching him_?

“You know,” one said, pulling her long dark hair over her shoulder and petting it in her own hands, “I’m a licensed massage therapist. I bet you get sore from all that work.”

“And I’m a dancer,” the other said, resting her narrow chin on her hand as she leaned forward. “I have a lot of stretching techniques to prevent it.”

“Ladies, I can assure you,” Rude said as he put his spoon down, but he was interrupted by Reno’s hands slamming down on the table. The two women looked up, startled, as did Elena who had been very deep in conversation with the attractive woman next to her.

“You must have someone else to _massage and stretch_ ,” Reno said unkindly, tipping his head to the side. “Or I can tie one of you in a knot so the other can try and fix that, how ‘bout that?”

Their mouths shut, and Rude’s lips spread into an embarrassed smirk. “Reno—”

“No, no, I’m not done,” Reno said, stepping up and away from the table. “I’d like to know where these hussies get off hitting on my man _in front of my own two eyes_.”

“Reno,” Rude snapped, embarrassed by the rude name he’d given them, but the two women immediately leaned back and away.

“It wasn’t like that,” one said.

“Really!” the other insisted, and the two got up and away from the table. “That’s kind of how things here _work—_ ”

Reno didn’t let her finish, hopping straight over the table. He chose to ignore Elena’s groan. Reno’s hand landed possessively on Rude’s shoulder, the left hand raising to point at both women. “I’m keepin' my eyes on you,” he said, and then settled down next to Rude, who was trying not to laugh into the rest of his dinner.

They sat in silence, Reno not-quite trembling with irritation. Rude finally finished his food, sliding an arm out around Reno’s back, pulling him close to him. “What are you so mad about?” he whispered into his hair.

“I ain’t mad,” Reno said, scowling at the table. “Just can’t let these desperate weirdos think they can get their gross hands on my man.”

Rude let out a surprised laugh, shaking his head. “Sure.”

Reno’s nose wrinkled. The response from him had been as though what Reno had said was a _joke_. A moment later he realized that it _should_ have been a joke, so he forced out a chuckle in agreement. He tipped his head back, staring up at the sky and nearly falling back and out of the seat as he did so.

The sky was so damn clear, he’d forgotten what that actually looked like. His hand came out, tugging on Rude’s arm. “Hey,” he said softly. “Can we um— Do you wanna, uh—”

“Yes?” Rude asked, amused enough to pull his sunglasses down a bit on the bridge of his nose to watch Reno struggle with whatever it was he was trying to spit out.

“Stargaze with me,” Reno blurted out. The idea was so innocuous, and yet Reno’s cheeks grew pink at the shame of even asking.

It was cute, Rude thought, and then tried desperately to smother that thought. “Sure,” he said, grabbing their bowls and taking them to wash. “Find us a blanket.”

Reno whipped around to try and find a familiar face, but besides the women he’d just yelled at, and Elena who was rapidly leaving the area, he could only see the three from earlier. He sighed, putting on his most amicable face, as he sauntered up to Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge, who were in the middle of an intense conversation. They all looked up at once, their expressions changing into much nicer ones at the sight of him.

Kinda weird, he thought, but just shrugged. “Hey, guys. Uh, I hate to ask, but do you know if you have like a beach blanket, or somethin’, I could borrow?”

Wedge, ever the gregarious one, jumped up with a smile. “For sure! Let me show you the shed. You guys okay without me?”

Biggs and Jessie nodded, and Reno pressed his hands together in thanks as he strode after Wedge’s surprisingly quick strides. It occurred to Reno that Wedge was babbling the whole time, so he forced himself to focus in on the words: “…sorts of stuff for everyone. We all know and trust each other, and there’s nowhere for stuff to disappear to, but still, it’d be good if you return it to here when you’re done.”

They approached a small shed with a lit torch in front of it, and inside were more stacks of torches, folded up chairs and umbrellas, and a small stack of rolled up blankets. “Go nuts!” Wedge said with a shrug. “Might wanna make sure there’s not a crab in there or something, first. Can never be too careful!”

Reno shouldered his way into the shed, squatting down to yank out a blue and tan blanket roll.

“Oh, hi Rude!” Wedge said, and stepped away from the door. There were a few mumbled words, and then Rude’s shadow filled the doorway as Reno looked up.

“Should I be jealous?” Rude asked quietly, the joke obvious in his tone.

“Yeah, Wedge is really my type. Boisterously loud and genuinely happy.” Reno shuddered, pushing himself up to standing and then shoving the large blanket into Rude’s hands. “Fuck outta here with that.”

Rude laughed, taking the blanket and stepping aside. The two walked along the beach until the noise of the kitchens and bonfires dulled; though the beaches never seemed to be deserted — Reno had a feeling that was on purpose, to keep an eye on any suspicious activity — they located a spot that at least was quiet comparably. There was a couple sitting on a jetty of rocks nearby, but they were talking so close it was as though they weren’t there.

Rude spread the blanket high up enough on the beach that they wouldn’t have to worry about the tide. Reno threw himself onto it, tucking his hands behind his head as he stared up at the massive expanse of dark sky full of glittering dots in white, red, yellow and blue; there was a dusting of a green aura that twisted lazily throughout the sky, and he wasn’t sure if that was a galaxy or the actual lifestream. Either way, Reno felt immediately at peace, even as Rude sat down next to him.

Rude crossed his legs, his hands leaning behind him so that he could gaze out at the sea. He pulled his sunglasses off. “You think this is all a waste of time?” he murmured.

Reno tried not to sound offended. “We’re doing a job. If doing our job is wasting time, then we’ve wasted a decade of our lives together.”

Rude seemed caught off guard by that, a genuine chuckle escaping his lips. “Good point.” He squinted and then tipped his head up to stare at the blanket of stars. “Just feels like a particularly goofy mission.”

“Rufus has goofy whims,” Reno shrugged. “Anyway, shut up and come down here.”

Rude rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. He eased onto his back, laying close enough that their shoulders barely brushed. At this angle, with nothing in front of him but the panorama of night, it seemed to have a more impactful feeling of impressiveness.

“You um… You know any constellations?” Reno asked softly.

Rude did. He pointed up at an arrow of bright blue stars, describing Odin; the ‘s’ shape of Leviathan; the great ‘m’ shape of Ramuh. His voice was deep and low, and while Reno was paying close attention, he mostly was eating up the attention of having this mellow man all to himself, the sound of his voice rumbling up and down Reno’s spine.

“…and that box there, a little crooked, is Typhon.”

Reno snapped out of it for a moment. “What? No way. That is Hades.”

“I’m telling you, it’s Typhon.”

“I know exactly _one_ constellation, and _that_ is Hades,” Reno insisted, his elbow nudging Rude’s head.

“I’m not forgetting this,” Rude said, turning to look at him. “If we had our phones, I’d look it up right now and prove you wrong.”

“You’d be the one who’s wrong, the trapezoid h-has always been Hades,” Reno said. “I b-bet if I could call Tseng right now, he’d tell you how dumb you are.”

Rude’s eyes narrowed a little bit on him, the chatter in his voice obvious enough that Rude could see the other man starting to shiver. “Cold, huh? Little lesson for you to avoid sunburns. Or maybe wearing so little…”

“Whatever, mister shirtless lumberjack,” Reno spat, yanking his hands out from under his head to wrap them around himself.

“I’m just trying to make friends, Reno.”

“Hussy friends,” Reno huffed, but there was a broad grin on his face.

Rude rolled his eyes and opened up his left arm. “Sure. C’mere.”

“Eh?” Reno felt a strange flutter of confusion. There was no one around to show off their ‘togetherness’, and now Rude was offering to, what, let him cuddle?

“Your shivering is annoying. Come here.”

Reno wasn’t going to argue any further and let himself curl up against Rude’s side. The muscular arm settled around his shoulders and Reno felt the radiating warmth shoot through his tingling body. It felt inappropriate; embarrassing, even, since this was not following the line of ‘boundaries’. There was no one around, and still Rude offered? It was unusual, but Reno was grateful for it, letting one hand rest on the center buttons of Rude’s shirt as they both stared up at the sky. The smell of his clothes was so good: the bare remnants of cologne from the morning, sun-baked sea salt. Maybe coconut?

Rude himself seemed completely relaxed, even though holding Reno like this was hell on the buzzing desire that loomed under his cool exterior. The last thing he wanted to do was do anything _real_ , since this was a game for Reno. But keeping a friend warm wasn’t necessarily a step out of line, was it?

Reno pointed out another cluster of stars. “That one seems familiar,” he hummed.

Rude felt Reno’s cheek moving against the shirt and closed his eyes for a moment to gather himself. “Great Warrior,” he said, fingers tightening on Reno’s shoulder. “It’s in a lot of the Shinra propaganda.”

“That’s bleak,” Reno chuckled.

Rude swore he could feel him nuzzling into his chest. Shit. He loosened his grip on Reno’s shoulder, trying to come up with a proper splash of cold water to stop this. “We should head back. You’re cold, and I’m on breakfast duty.”

“Why did you do that on purpose?” Reno asked, laughing. He pulled away and sat up, immediately mourning the loss of all that body heat.

“You know I’m a morning person,” Rude chuckled. They shook out the blanket together, and when Rude attempted to roll it, Reno just shook his head. He wrapped himself up in the blanket in a cocoon of warmth.

“That’s your biggest flaw, honestly,” Reno said matter-of-factly. “Besides your face.”

Rude laughed in shock, hip checking Reno hard enough to get the redhead to stumble, as they walked back to their cottage in high spirits and close footsteps.


	3. Sun King

Rude’s body felt hot, like even if he kicked off the blankets and dove into the ocean he’d cause it to boil. He’d been dreaming, not that he could remember about what. All he knew was the feeling of lightning tingling up and down his body and a particularly stiff erection tenting his sweats.

His eyes snapped open, a thin stream of early dawn light slicing across the bed. He followed the line and his eyes landed on Reno in bed next to him. The man had graciously thrown on a t-shirt and shorts, but it looked like it had been uncomfortable to him. The shirt was twisted up under his armpits, displaying the soft, flat plane of his abdomen and strawberry pink nipples. His mouth was slightly ajar and his hair was fanned out under him.

Rude’s cock _ached_ at the sight of him. He squeezed his eyes shut and thought of chocobo racing statistics. Heidegger with crumbs in his beard. Icebergs. The ocean. Swimming. Reno’s dripping wet body pressed against his in the surf—

 _Fuck_. He leapt out of bed and watched the prone form of his partner in bed shift just slightly and let out a quiet sleepy moan.

 _Double fuck_. He made his way to the bathroom and the shower, the brisk morning air doing nothing to calm him down. He stripped and stood under the water, letting his hand wrap around himself. The sound of his own strokes felt so _loud_ , so inappropriate, he had to stop. It was bad enough his mind kept populating images of Reno above or below him, sun-blushed body wanton and eager—

He turned the water to ice cold, which shocked a squeak out of him but killed the arousal all at once.

The last thing he wanted to do was fuck around with that thought. Reno did not _date_. In all the time he had known him, the man had shied away from anyone who wanted to see him more than twice. He remembered them walking drunkenly through Wall Market and Reno putting a hand up to cover his face as they’d passed a rowdy noodle joint.

_“Oh, shit,” Reno said, staring at the ground. “C’mon, let’s get outta here.”_

_Rude lifted an eyebrow at him, and then turned to look to see a large, attractive man with curly brown hair waving at them. He glanced back at Reno, who had an irritated blush on his face._

_“Reno?” the man called, and Reno snatched him by the elbow to drag him forcefully down a different street. He didn’t bring up the man ever again._

Rude shivered at the thought of Reno avoiding him after they’d slept together. After “winning” the game Reno would lose interest, and that… That would be too much. Rude craved that damn man the way a tree craves the sun. To have the sun shun him while they worked?

He turned off the water, sufficiently cooled off and in a particularly upset disposition. A few hours in the kitchens at least took his mind off of the forbidden column of Reno’s torso. Shady found him and asked him if he was interested in doing a little more heavy lifting or if he needed a break. Rude was glad to take on another task.

He was bordering on sunburnt and exhaustion by the time he’d finished. Thankfully, the little fan club he’d had previously was not there, and the hard work had kept his mind blissfully full of dirty thought canceling static. The sun was settled low in the sky by the time he finished, exhausted but satisfied, and went to get something to eat.

Within the kitchens was a small counter setup on the side that Rude did not find familiar. It was covered in fruit and bottles and cups, and stared at it in mild confusion. A recognizable head of spiky red hair popped up from behind the counter and there was Reno with an enormous, sharp toothed smile holding a lime. He was chatting up a couple in front of him and swiftly putting together mixed drinks, squeezing the contents of the lime in the two glasses.

Rude didn’t want to get caught staring, but he couldn’t look away. Reno was surly, but chatty, on his worst days, but when he had to turn up the raw charisma, he was unstoppable. People bent to his whims and offered up information like it was free lint on their clothes. Rude found himself with a tiny smile on his face when Reno’s eyes suddenly found his.

The feeling in his chest squeezed with an addictive, painful warmth as Reno’s expression turned into beaming excitement. He said something to his guests and then tore his eyes away from Rude’s to get back to work, so Rude just got himself a plate of food and sat down on the edge of a long table.

“Rude! You didn’t put any sunblock on that dome of yours, did you?” Reno’s voice called to him, and he turned so that his legs weren’t under the table. Before he had a chance to do anything, Reno was sitting in his lap, offering him a drink so cold it was wet w ith condensation. “Jeez. And you yelled at _me_ about it.”

Rude’s first instinct was to kiss him, and his rational brain was not nearly as fast to stop him. He pressed his lips chastely against Reno’s and then took a long drink from the glass. It was _very_ alcoholic, but so cold and sweet that he wasn’t even taken aback. “Thank you, baby,” he said, and watched Reno’s cheeks turn red. “And, you’re right. I got real distracted. Completely forgot. Burns don’t tend to last too long on me, but I’ll probably gotta stop shaving my head for a while.”

Reno’s pupils were wide, drawing himself up closer to Rude. He was soaking up the affection, one arm sliding around Rude’s muscular neck. “I’ve _never_ seen you like that before,” Reno whispered, almost as if it was truly meant to be private. “I’m pretty excited I get to, though.”

“You gonna let me eat?” Rude murmured, feeling eyes on him from all sides.

“Yeah yeah, eat up,” Reno said, grinning, and stood up. “I’m almost off bartending duty.”

“Set hours, huh?” Rude asked, tucking his legs back under the table to dig into the food hungrily.

“Nah, just tired of makin’ drinks instead of drinkin’ ‘em,” Reno laughed, and made his way back to the bar where a small line had formed.

Rude ate quickly, just the sight of Reno upsetting that calm balance he’d found earlier. But before he could escape away from the crowds, a sloppily drunk Biggs plopped down next to him with a grin on his face.

Biggs was high up on his list of people he wanted to interrogate, after all, so he just turned around on the bench, resting his elbows back on the table while he nursed the tasty drink Reno had made for him.

“Good evening so far, I take it?” Rude asked.

Biggs laughed, a drink of his own sloshing in his hand. “Your Reno’s a helluva barman. A genius! You know I made this hooch?”

Rude paused in slurping down his drink. “You…?”

“Yeah!” Biggs laughed again. “We’re not s’posed to make big orders of alcohol, doesn’t fit with the commune’s _image_. Pffpt! Got around that. It’s taken half a year but we finally have a constant supply of ol’ daddy Biggs’ Cocorum.”

Rude watched him for a moment, eyes scanning over the man’s wavy black hair held out of his eyes with a bright blue bandana, the strong muscular body, calloused fingers, and a distinct line of tension between his neck and shoulders. He took another long drink. “You do good work, Biggs.”

“Not as much as your boy—speak of the devil!” Biggs’ grin broadened, opening his arms. “C’mon over here, Red!”

Reno was sauntering over with two more glasses, and Rude knew one of them was for him. He liked to take it slow, but the sight of Reno in the golden-red light of sunset, airy capris and a mostly open black top filled him with such _thirst_ he had to chug the rest of his tropical cocktail as fast as he could.

Not to mention Biggs calling Reno a cute little nickname had punched a spike of jealousy so deep in his gut he was going to need all the social lubricant he could handle.

Reno pushed Biggs aside on the bench so he could squeeze in between them, offering a glass to Rude while he drank out of the other. Rude took it. “Biggs was telling me—”

“Only you can get that jet fuel taste out of the booze,” Biggs said with a firm nod. “You got magic fingers.”

“So they tell me,” Reno said slyly, eyes leveling on Rude’s. Rude raised an eyebrow.

“How long have you been feeding him cocktails?” Rude murmured.

Reno simply shrugged, turning so he could kick his legs up into Biggs’ lap, leaning back into Rude’s side. Rude grunted, opening an arm so he could hold the other man easier. Biggs held Reno’s legs with a laugh.

“I hope we get the chance to hang out more often,” Reno was saying conversationally, letting his ankles roll open and closed. “You always seem so busy with Wedge and Jessie.”

Biggs hummed, still smiling. “Yeah, they’re great, aren’t they? Wouldn’t want anybody else on my team more.”

Reno barked out a laugh. “What, you guys doin’ baseball out here, too?”

At first, Biggs said nothing, staring forward in the distance, and then shook his head to snap himself out of it. “Oh, uh, yeah. Somethin’ like that. Hey, I’d better leave you two to it,” he said, pushing Reno’s legs off of his and swaying as he stood up. “I’d better sober up before my shift.”

Reno kept his ‘oof’ to himself, half-heartedly waving as Biggs seemed to walk off like a man possessed. He turned then, sliding his legs into Rude’s much broader, warmer lap. “How nice of him to leave us alone,” Reno said with enough for his voice to carry. Then when he leaned in, pressing his lips close to Rude’s ear, it would look much more perverted than what he actually murmured: “There’s no way he’s not in on it. The whole trio.”

Rude was a hell of an actor for blushing at such a mundane statement (since he’d be hard pressed to admit it was those soft lips grazing his beard and the weight of his long legs against his own). He picked up his drink to sate the thirst instead. “I’d wondered. Especially Wedge,” he said into the cup, and then put it down to turn his own mouth close to Reno’s cheek. “He’s everywhere I go, it feels like.”

“Think they’re watching us?” Reno asked.

“Right now?” Rude asked, an excited shiver rolling down the back of his neck.

“I meant all the time, smart ass,” Reno chuckled, though he did catch the eye of someone a few tables away, so he bit lightly on Rude’s ear. The soft gasp he got in response was music to Reno’s ears. “But yes, we’re definitely gonna have to be on our best behavior.”

“Your best behavior is biting me?” Rude murmured, his chuckle mostly just a hot huff of breath.

“Sue me, I’m new to this!” Reno replied, pulling back away from him so he could squint past those sunglasses to try and look at Rude in the eyes.

For Reno it had been a practical truth. He wasn’t very good at dating or having boyfriends, though not for lack of trying. Reno had a certain look about him that invited people to form incorrect opinions. Frequently those people were the ones that came to Reno for intimacy, so he either ended up with guys who were interested in one, maybe two fucks and then fucking off, or worse, the ones that treated him terribly but still wanted to introduce him to their parents on the third date.

Reno got a flash back to _Kyle_ , who had done that very thing. He had been a terrible, uncaring lover, but found Reno willing to please. After two dates, he thought it was a fantastic idea to bring Reno round for dinner at his fucking _parents’ house_. Reno had escaped as quickly as possible, attempting to ignore that crazy asshole for the rest of his life. At least until he’d seen the man in Wall Market while he was with Rude, and had to desperately pull Rude away even while Kyle had called his name.

He shivered in discomfort and Rude frowned at him. “You alright?” he asked, snaking one arm around Reno’s body and tugging him close.

Reno melted into the embrace. _This_ was something he’d always wanted. That real boyfriend experience. Someone who treated him as an equal but still showered him with affection. And he would bet Rude wouldn’t be terrible in bed at _all_ , not that he was ever going to know what that was like. Rude was very good at this part —the acting in public, always the professional — but any time Reno got too close Rude would back off. Reno knew it was because he was undateable, unloveable (why else would he only attract such douchebags?). It was what he deserved, honestly. He’d left a lot of blood and mayhem in his wake in his life. You couldn’t have it all.

“Reno?” Rude asked, voice soft with concern.

Reno did _not_ let out a sad little sound, and instead just shoved his drink into his face. “Sorry,” he gurgled. “Just thinking.” He scooted back, shifting his legs off of Rude and trying to get his damn mind to stop self destructing. The spiraling thoughts were something he’d always dealt with, and he had to admit, he was stupid to think Rude wouldn’t notice. The bastard always noticed.

“Hey,” Rude said, putting his half-empty glass on the table behind him. “I know what you’re doing.”

“Tryin’ to stop,” Reno said under his breath, the most honest his voice had been in days.

Rude’s lips tugged into a deeper frown. “Don’t be mad,” he said, before pulling Reno awkwardly into his lap. Reno kept himself from spilling his drink even as he made a little surprised noise, knees falling on either side of Rude’s legs as he sat on his lap, their faces close. “Talk to me.”

Reno stared at him, sitting up high enough that he could see over the shades. He wanted him to take them off, but knew it was better for Rude’s own comfort to leave them on. There were still dozens of people around, laughing and talking and eating. Reno felt his emotions battle out in his chest: embarrassment that he should so desperately crave this attention and affection from a man who did not want to give it in reality, and deep satisfaction and excitement from receiving the attention from the man he wanted it from most, fake or not.

He settled back onto Rude’s legs, making sure they weren’t necessarily grinding on each other. Reno knew that ‘Talk to me’ didn’t mean ‘Tell me what you’re thinking about’. It meant ‘Stop thinking about that and ramble.’

“How come I didn’t know about your new tattoos?” Reno asked instead. He took a long swig of his drink and put the empty cup down. That alcohol was going to hit him all at once, but for now, he was doing just fine. His right hand slid up Rude’s left arm: a full sleeve of familiar tattoos, mainly orange and red. A diving phoenix surrounded in bursts of heavily outlined flame. Materia in his preferred configurations were dotted along the sides of the phoenix, caressing golden feathers. He knew the tattoo disappeared up into his shoulder and into the enormous volcanic back piece that he hadn’t taken a very good look at, but it was gorgeous, highly stylized and birthing the phoenix that swam down his arm.

Reno’s left hand then slid over Rude’s right elbow and up, pushing his sleeve up to his shoulder. It was refractions of dark blue and turquoise water, swirling around small figures: an unfamiliar but beautiful rainbow-colored bug monster, a densely scaled and stylized mermaid, the Leviathan, and undersea mines, all filled with silvery fish swimming in and out of the waves. “You’re more of a fire guy, why this? And when?”

Rude was almost mad. He’d wanted Reno to ramble at him, not make him talk instead. It didn’t help that his skin was a bit sensitive from standing in the sun all day, and small goosebumps followed after Reno’s fingers. “Hometown pride, I guess. And a bit of representation for more than just you.”

Reno blinked at him. “Whaddya talking about?”

“I think the phoenix sums us both up pretty well,” Rude said with a shrug. “Plus, you know there’s lightning on my back.”

Reno was trying very hard not to have spiraling thoughts again while Rude admitted that some of his tattoos _were about him_. “Is Leviathan Tseng?”

Rude blushed. “Yeah.”

“Rude, Elena is gonna murder you if she’s that bug. Actually, she might be more pissed if she’s the mermaid.”

Rude chose not to acknowledge that. “The bug is Bottomswell. Local legend from Junon. It is a coastal town, dirty ass sea water or not.” He chuckled, tipping his head back to look up at the sky. “I guess I liked the duality aspect of it, fire and water.”

“Well, if anyone was a balanced zen master,” Reno said, tapping his own lips, “it wouldn’t be you. But you do swim like a fish and you’re hot as hell, so I guess it still fits.”

Rude choked out a laugh, half offended as he tightened his arm around Reno’s back. “You can be such an asshole, you know that?”

“I literally just complimented you,” Reno teased, poking Rude in the chest. “I have never been an asshole to you.”

“Does torturing me not count as asshole behavior?” Rude teased back. Reno gazed at him for a long moment, tipping his head to the side. He felt inspected in a way that made his heart race.

Reno was trying to figure him out. Was he torturing him now? Was it torture to have someone as undateable sit on top of him and poke fun? Or was it something else? Maybe Rude did want him, but in the way everyone else did. He had to admit, he’d take it. He’d take whatever he could get from Rude. But this was a long term mission, the kind where screwing up the dynamic between your partner could definitely destroy the mission itself.

“You’re doing it again.”

Reno shook his head, feigning a grin. “Sorry.”

Rude grabbed one of Reno’s hands, squeezing it. “How about we head home? I could use some of that burn gel, honestly.”

Reno bit his lip. “Okay, but you gotta tell me more about the tattoos.”

“Agreed.”

Later, after Rude had stripped down to just his jeans and thrown himself face first onto the bed and Reno spent twenty minutes covering the more reddened parts of his body in cooling gel, Reno’s mind had quieted in the normality of it all. This was not an unusual routine, taking care of one another.

He crawled off of Rude and tossed the bottle aside, deciding now was a good time to unpack their clothes. “What do we do about Biggs?”

Rude pushed himself up, rolling his shoulders with a groan. “You’re already on the right track. He’s a bigger guy, I’m betting I can get on shifts with him. You already seem to know the best way to get people to open up.”

Reno glanced over his shoulder with a self deprecating grin. “Getting them sloshed?”

“Your charm, dumbass,” Rude scoffed, and went to help his partner so that he could at least pull out a t-shirt and sleep sweats. “Ten minutes and you can get whatever you want from someone.”

“If only that were true,” Reno huffed, tucking away the last of his colorful underwear. He closed the drawer with a little frown. “You tired?”

“Not yet.”

“Wanna play cards?”

Rude pulled off his sunglasses. “If you don’t get mad when I beat you.”

Reno gave him a genuine grin as he stepped out of the bedroom, glad to bring them back to their usual banter. “No promises.”


	4. I Want To Tell You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back with summer shenanigans, sexual frustrations, and a game of chicken.
> 
> (For those of you unfamiliar, 'chicken' in this instance is two pairs of people in the water, one person seated on the other's shoulders, while the ones up top attempt to knock the other down into the water.)

A week slowly passed, and then two.

Reno spent a lot of his time in the centralized area of the camp. He had knife skills that impressed everyone; he could julienne any vegetable with ease the same as he could inspire and terrify with a rousing knife game, the blade moving between his fingers and anyone else’s with speed and precision.

All he had truly discovered was that Paolo Alpin was so busy getting things to work that he wasn’t sure he had time for anything else. Reno had seen him come and get food — he always got food with everyone else — but tended to eat while someone talked to him, and then went on his way to fix equipment or sort through papers.

Reno had sneaked into the boathouse office they’d seen on their first day to see Paolo genuinely filling out orders and manifests, humming sea shanties under his breath. When Paolo left, Reno picked the lock to confirm everything he was looking at was basic order forms for supplies: toilet paper, copper wire, metal piping, glass panels, pallets of flour, seeds and beans, water purifiers, rolls of heavy-duty fabric.

What Reno did not know was where Paolo lived. Following him proved to be a difficult affair. Both times he’d attempted to sneak after the man, Wedge had found him and started introducing him to all the island cats that Wedge had personally named and tamed. While the island wasn’t enormous, it wasn’t worth his time to scout out every square foot. The area around the commune was wide and easy to navigate, with great fields manicured by the heavy day laborers, but further from that and closer to the mountain, the jungle forest grew deep and difficult to navigate. Reno knew their hideout had to be out there, somewhere, but would have to try harder to get closer.

Meanwhile, Rude did as he said he would: work hard. He had certainly managed to get on a few work shifts with Biggs, but while they dug irrigation trenches and hammered in fence posts, they mostly talked about sports and city living. Biggs was from Midgar and Rude simply pretended to have a passing familiarity with it since his beau was from there. When Biggs found out about Junon, he had been very interested in it, and Rude at least got the man’s hackles up when he’d started talking about the horrific water pollution from Shinra.

“Fuck those guys,” Rude said, standing up and stretching his back in the hot sun.

Biggs simply stared at the ground as he dug, face pinched. “Yeah, but what can you do, you know?” he’d whispered. “They’ll just stomp out any dissent.”

Any time their conversation veered in that direction, Biggs had whimpered away from it. Rude knew that pushing too hard on it would be suspicious, so he dropped it and didn’t focus as hard on getting work shifts with the other man.

He did focus, however, on staying the hell away from Reno.

Rude was an early riser, so he did not have to eat breakfast with his partner. Lunch times he’d stop by for a quick bowl and then disappear again for heavy work. By evenings he was exhausted, eating and then walking home like a half-dead man. He’d been keeping a journal, though it was more of a man’s crazed connections, attempting to disseminate why Biggs or Wedge or Jessie could get them ‘in’ with the real Avalanche leader.

Staying away from Reno was the only way for him to keep his damn peace of mind. He was still too nervous to jerk off in his own home, afraid Reno would appear out of nowhere. He had gone on many long solo walks on the beach, thinking he’d found a solitary place, when he saw Wedge or Jessie wave to him from afar. They were definitely keeping tabs on him, but he wasn’t sure if they did that just for Reno and him, or if they did it for everyone. He’d taken a walk with a passing colleague to a similarly deserted part of the beach and found that there, too, was Wedge at the corner of his eye.

His colleague was Beatrix, the brassy woman Elena had been spending time with, who had long, sleek box braids. She noticed his disdain. “We’ve lost people in the waves before,” she said with a shrug. “We always watch out for one another out here.”

“Is that why? Just thought they wanted to keep us from stealing.”

“What is there to steal?” she’d said with a charming laugh. She had gorgeous silver eyes in contrast to her dark, but warm-toned skin, and Rude could see why Elena spent so much time with her.

The beach was a ‘no go’ for alone time, then. The water wasn’t much better. The first time Rude had sank into the ocean thinking he could get off there, he felt guilty. He couldn’t just get cum in the ocean. Fish lived there.

He’d been desperate enough to take a long hike back to the heavily forested jungle. While he was away from prying eyes, he was certainly not alone. The second he’d gotten a hand down his pants he’d been harassed by an onslaught of bugs, birds, and one actual monkey.

Rude had not actually gotten off in two weeks and, in close proximity to Reno, he was becoming much less cool, calm and collected. In fact, he was occasionally — for lack of a better word — bitchy.

There were days where most of the commune didn’t work, which meant a lot more socializing and less excuses to un off and hide. These were the worst, since it forced Rude to be more social with everyone, including his partner. He was still a good actor, but he also knew his partner. Rude’s method of just avoiding the problem was a bad one since Reno could read him like a damn book.

Rude was reclined under a large umbrella in a baggy button-up shirt with a bold green leaf print and his tight purple swimsuit. His face was mostly hidden behind the saucy detective novel he’d been reading from the small communal library. A shadow fell over Rude’s legs.

“Can’t hide from me forever, yo.”

“Who’s hiding?” Rude huffed quietly, but didn’t close his book. He didn’t need to look up to know Reno was sulkily standing before him. “I’m right here.”

Reno hesitated, his voice choking off after a syllable. He cleared his throat and Rude finally let his eyes rise above the book to look at the man, in Elena’s stolen straw hat and a black speedo. Rude managed not to make a choking sound, himself. “You have more than one swimsuit?”

“Don’t you?” Reno replied immediately, the embarrassed tone bleeding out of him as he crossed his arms. “Is it… Is it okay if I join you?” The volume of his voice was quiet, as though he knew it’d be weird for a boyfriend to ask such a thing.

Rude repressed a sigh. Reno was pouting and Rude was to blame. He hadn’t really considered that Reno would actively miss his company, which was a rookie mistake. Even before they’d had to fake a relationship, Reno could be clingy. He liked attention, and Rude’s attention seemed to be his favorite flavor. It could be quite irritating when he was just trying to get work done but he found it impossible to say ‘no’ to his partner. The sight of him sad always tugged at his heart strings, even if the sadness from Reno was artificial. Rude always caved to what Reno wanted. He lived to make him happy.

Other than lately, anyway.

“Of course you can,” Rude said, finally closing the book. He pushed himself to a more comfortably seated position and then gave a small sound of surprise as Reno plopped himself down in Rude’s lap. Reno’s bare back, sun-hot and smelling of sunscreen, pressed against Rude’s chest through the open buttons of his top.

There were dozens of others around them, splashing in the ocean or lounging similarly under large umbrellas. The two pressing together like this was very mission appropriate.

“I’ve been swimming more,” Reno said. He stared forward at the bright sea, one hand landing on the beach towel below them and clutching at it. “There are some weird fuckin’ things in the ocean, Rude.”

The conversation was so normal, Rude felt comfortable enough to slide an arm around Reno’s waist. He had never had so much of Reno’s bare flesh pressed against his before. The snorkeling incident had Reno in a much bigger set of trunks and the float vest. He reached up with his free hand to pluck the hat off of Reno’s head, tossing it at the foot of the umbrella.

“Not giving up on it, huh?” Rude asked, curling forward enough that he could rest his chin on Reno’s shoulder. He felt Reno’s body shudder under him and curl instinctively towards his chest. Rude spread his legs and planted his feet, bending his knees so that Reno was caged in.

“Huh? Oh, because of our mishap from before? Nah. I’m not going to let a little fear keep me out of the coldest place on the island.” Reno’s head tipped back against Rude’s shoulder.

Rude’s fingers spread out a bit and then squeezed Reno closer to him. He turned his face against Reno’s temple. “Hear anything?”

Reno cleared his throat. “No. Fierro won’t give me the time of day, little bastard,” he huffed. “I know he’s in on it. I also know he’s a total swinger, since I thought he was Shady’s boyfriend. Til I talked to Shady about it, and that got me an earful.”

Rude lifted an eyebrow. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Don’t you think I’m sexy, Rude?” Reno asked, his tone almost a whine.

This time, Rude did choke, having to move his head away from Reno’s face. “What does that—”

“I’m saying, he’s a swinger. I’m a dish, Rude. I’m a damn _delight_. And he won’t give me a chance. Hell, _you_ won’t even give me a chance, lately.”

“That’s not fair,” Rude whispered, flustered, and then tried to backtrack. He shut his eyes and tried to picture who Fierro was. “Maybe you’re just not his type.”

“I’m everyone’s type!” Reno hissed, scowling at a tiny crab that scuttled out of the sand and away from them. 

“Maybe I should try and loosen him up, then,” Rude hummed. “What’s he look like, again? I don’t think I’ve ever properly met him.”

“Short guy,” Reno said at first, and then sighed. “Well, he’s my height, but he seems shorter than me. Short black hair. Big eyes, full lips—”

“No wonder you’re mad he’s ignoring you,” Rude teased. “You sound smitten.”

“I’m _describing_ my _mortal enemy_ here,” Reno growled, though it bubbled into a laugh. He said nothing else, just let himself lean back into the familiar, but rare touches from his partner. He’d missed this terribly during the past weeks. Hell, he’d barely gotten fake kisses, which he loathed to admit, he lived for. It even felt like Rude was enjoying it too, with one hand around Reno’s naked waist, and the other sliding calloused fingertips up and down Reno’s arm.

The intimate touch gave Reno a confidence boost, and he reached up behind him with his left hand, fingers sliding over the black fuzz all over Rude’s head. He’d been letting his hair grow out, and while it was a little unsettling — he had known Rude’s slick bald head for close to eight years and _only_ that — it still attracted Reno something fierce. He supposed that was going to be anything Rude did, honestly, but the scratchy-soft hair was an added bonus. “His hair’s a little longer than this. Fuller.” Reno’s head tipped so that he was looking back at Rude, who was gazing down at him — at his _mouth_ — with the look of a starving man.

This was it. He was definitely going to kiss him. A real kiss, this time, and not —

“Hey, you two,” came Wedge’s jovial, irritating voice. “You wanna join us? We’re gonna play some chicken fights!”

The pair jerked apart from each other in surprise, throwing sand as they awkwardly untangled. They looked up to see Wedge’s smile fade. “Oh, crap, did I interrupt something? Umm, I’m sorry, I just…”

“It’s all good, he gets me all the time,” Reno said, standing up immediately. Rude tried not to think about Reno’s ass in a speedo four inches away from his mouth. “Chicken huh? Who we takin’ down?”

“Me and Jessie,” Wedge said, blushing, and then gestured. “And Biggs and Elena.”

“Elena,” Reno scowled. They looked out to the shoreline where Elena and Biggs were sharing in some big joke, and then she waved out to him. She’d interrupted them on purpose. That little…

Rude pushed himself up and out of the danger zone of Reno’s more intimate regions. “Yeah, sure. We’ll take on the winners,” he said confidently.

The Turks slowly followed as Wedge jogged down to the shoreline. Elena had already crawled on top of Biggs’ shoulders, and she was flexing and booing at Jessie. Jessie just stuck out her tongue, waiting for Wedge to get low enough in the water for her to hop on his shoulders. The four of them waded deeper into the water until the men were up to their nipples.

“May the best monstrosity win!” Reno yelled, smirking as Elena sent an angry glare in his direction.

The women hooked their legs around the men’s arms below them, reaching out to struggle for power with each other. Biggs seemed to be taking it very seriously, while Wedge was just laughing and very pink in the cheeks. Rude could tell he was just happy to have Jessie seated very snugly atop his broad shoulders. Jessie was no wimp, but Elena didn’t play fair, reaching to yank on Jessie’s ponytail before finally shoving her hard enough that the two flew back into the water, sputtering. Elena hollered with victory, and Biggs only winced a little as Elena’s heels dug into his ribs like he was a damn chocobo.

“Oh, good,” Reno said, his grin growing a little menacing. “I don’t have to take it easy on Elena.”

“Ifrit’s balls, don’t make her bleed, Reno,” Rude chuckled, tossing his shirt off onto the sand. “Dolphins can smell blood in the water, you know.”

“Don’t even joke about that, asshole,” Reno grumbled, elbowing the man behind him even as they made their way into the water.

“Finally, someone who can dethrone Elena,” Jessie said as she swam to more shallow water. Her voice changed with an amused, fake affectation: “She lacks honor!”

“If anyone lacks honor more than her,” Rude uttered with a painfully genuine smile, “it’s Reno.”

“Are you literally talking shit about me right before I mount you like a damn ox? Shut up back there and bend over,” Reno growled, which caused everyone else to laugh at his expense.

Rude slid under the water, and Reno hopped on top of him as though he’d done it dozens of times before. Rude could only recall one time Reno had actually sat on his shoulders, and it had been involving unscrewing a light bulb in a janitor’s closet so they could hide quietly before taking out a sect of gang members. The memory was jarring enough to get Reno to kick him in the ribs, as warned. “Hey!” Reno said. “Anybody home, o’ beast of burden?”

“Ass,” Rude uttered, and walked them forward until they were face to face with Biggs and Elena.

Elena imitated rolling up imaginary sleeves before pushing her arms up and out to the sides. Her wily fingers curled and uncurled. “You ready to go down, Red?”

“On me? Blondie, I got a man,” Reno said smugly, and punched his fist into the flat of his other hand. “Quit talkin’ and get ready to taste defeat.”

Elena’s brown eyes grew fiery. “You _wish!_ ” she yelled, lurching forward in a rage that was surprising enough to get Biggs slightly off balance. His hands clasped tightly on her calves as he regained his stance, and then made eye contact with Rude — or attempted to, as Rude was staring at him with only a faint smirk and opaque black sunglasses.

Elena’s hands landed on Reno’s lower arms, her grip strong and painful. “Hey!” Reno hissed, pushing his right arm up enough to pull her claws out of his left. With Rude under him, he knew he had a solid base, and could squirm around without him losing his own balance. Elena let out an irritated grunt when Reno managed to free himself of her grip, w hile his own hands snatched out to just shove at her shoulders. She reached for his ponytail, but he freed a hand to swat at her like an irritating bug.

“Don’t touch the hair, rookie,” he growled, and she just scoffed in response as they struggled for dominance.

At the word ‘rookie’, Rude attempted to read Biggs’ face. Biggs didn’t seem to notice or care, too busy with attempting to keep a hold on Elena’s rapidly slipping body. Rude grinned a little. “Having a little trouble?” he teased.

“Shut up, Rude!” Elena said from up top, which got Biggs to laugh. His laughing caused him to sway and swear as he grabbed her legs tighter again, forcing her forward.

“Hey, you can’t talk to him like that!” Reno said, though it was in that nasal tone of voice that meant his mouth was pure smug grin. “You’ll be sorry!”

“Biggs!” Elena snapped.

“You got it, boss,” Biggs said in response, and swiped out with his leg to knock Rude’s legs out from under him.

“Oh, shit—” Rude gurgled, and swayed back and forth before sliding backwards, out of harm’s way. “You _do_ fight dirty.”

“Get me back over there you big wuss!” Reno howled, and Rude just laughed as Biggs and Elena came up on him instead, not giving him the chance to move. This time, both Elena and Reno got their hands on each other’s arms, twisting and pushing until it became only a test of each other’s strength. Unfortunately for Elena, Reno’s upper body strength was enough to twist and push until she had to let go, her body twisting to its limit before falling into the water with a cry of frustration.

Reno let out a great ‘whoop’. “Suck on _that_!” he yelled, laughing in triumph, before Rude flipped him off of his shoulders to land behind him in the water with an enormous splash.

“Congrats,” Biggs chuckled, grabbing Elena by the arm. “C’mon, they’re waiting. Losers get to play volleyball.”

Elena grumbled, but appeared somewhat appeased by this notion as she snuck a catty grin in Rude’s direction. “I’ll get his cheating ass next time,” she promised.

Rude just shrugged before he felt something very odd tickle between his legs. A moment later, Reno’s wet head popped up out of the water in front of him. The man had swam through his legs in relative silence. “You _have_ been spending more time in the water,” Rude murmured, impressed.

“He doubts my skills, even now,” Reno said, throwing his arms around Rude’s shoulders. “I’ll never recover from this.”

Rude stared at the man, his face so close that he could see the freckles blooming across his cheeks. His expression was so soft and wondrous, like he enjoyed this intimate closeness just for what it was, rather than an act meant to please someone else. They were alone in the shallows, and Reno’s eyes grew half lidded. God, if he didn’t just kiss him now, then when? Besides, they’d won, he’d certainly earned a little something something—

Not that he got the chance, as Rude’s forehead crashed into Reno’s, effectively braining them both with a sickening _crack!_ The volleyball that had slammed into the back of Rude’s head, forcing it forward, bounced off to the side, still spinning from momentum.

“Oh, shit!” a voice cried from the shore. “My bad! Can you throw it back?”

Reno was clutching the bump on his forehead with a furious glower. “Whoever the _fuck_ — oh for _fuck’s sake_ ,” he hissed.

“You okay? Sorry,” Rude murmured, his own hand rubbing at the growing red spot on his forehead as he moved to grab the ball.

“ _That’s_ Fierro,” Reno growled.

Rude snatched the ball and turned to see the man in question, who had certainly hurled the ball in their direction. He was as Reno had described — not entirely tall, but with a gorgeous face and deeply tanned body, in a swimsuit similar to what Reno was wearing, only his body was certainly more muscular, with a masculine triangle of chest hair that trailed tantalizingly down his figure. He had large golden sunglasses on and he had definitely been smothered in tanning oil.

“Oh,” Rude said. “You okay? I’m going to take this back to him and talk to him. Personally.”

Reno scowled, stepping forward until he was taking great sloshing steps out of the deep. “ _Whatever_. I’m gonna go find a potion and spike it with rum until my head stops pounding.”

Rude watched him go before locking his gaze back on Fierro, who hadn’t even noticed Reno leave. He seemed to be gazing only at Rude, so Rude walked forward until he stood in front of the other man, a full head taller. As he did, he blocked the sun from Fierro’s view. “This yours?” Rude asked, dropping the offending volleyball into Fierro’s hands.

Fierro pulled his sunglasses off, gaze sliding up from Rude’s navel up to his eyes in one meaningful swoop. “Really sorry about that,” Fierro said, biting his lip as he pushed his sunglasses back on. “When I spike a ball, apparently it’s a force to be reckoned with.”

“I don’t know if we’ve been formerly introduced,” Rude said. “I’m—”

“Rude, yes. Your flighty boyfriend told me all about you.” Rude lifted an eyebrow at that. “I’m Fierro. It’s a pleasure.”

“Is it?” Rude asked, folding his arms. “You caused me to headbutt him _, and_ you’re standing on my shirt.”

Fierro looked down then and saw that, indeed, he had a foot on Rude’s previously tossed-aside shirt. He frowned. “I didn’t realize,” he said, and then reached down to pick it up. “Ah, it’s awful. Let me get you a fresh one. C’mon, I know I have something that’ll fit you.”

“If it’s your clothes, I doubt it,” Rude said.

Fierro tossed the volleyball over his shoulder to the awaiting teams. “Don’t worry,” he said, his tone impenetrably flirtatious. “I have something for everyone.”

Rude rolled his eyes and followed the man to one of the homes near to the beach. It was much more minimalist than the other homes, no seashell decorations or massive plant life displays. “Wait here,” Fierro said, leaving him on the porch.

Rude continued to be amused by this. Fierro had been throwing massive signals, taken him to a private household, and then… Left him outside?

The man came back out a moment later with a black, short-sleeved button down and threw it at Rude. “Not great for the heat, but for the time being,” Fierro said. He grinned at him. “You’re much too distracting otherwise.”

“Says the man in the tiny suit,” Rude hummed, slipping in to the shirt.

“Ah, were you looking? Tsk tsk.”

“Is it illegal to look?” Rude asked with a small shrug. Fierro just laughed lightly, tugging Rude by the elbow back towards the beach. The walk was quiet but had a distinct level of discomfort that came from anticipation. What was this bossy little man going to do with him, Rude wondered.

They huddled up against the trees, and Rude was happy to get a bit of shade. “You threw that ball at me on purpose.”

“I admit, I wanted your attention,” Fierro said, leaning up against one of the trees. He pulled off his sunglasses, pushing them up onto his head. He was arching his back, clearly a display, but Rude chose to keep his eyes level on Fierro’s. “I have a proposition for you.”

“I don’t think I’m in any position to be propositioned, Fierro,” Rude said. Fierro reached up to stroke the side of Rude’s neck with the back of his knuckles; Rude managed to ignore the hair prickling up on end under the other man’s hands. Fierro grinned up at him, and then pulled his hand back so that he could cross them both behind his head.

“Oh, I think a man of your caliber could handle it. Look at the size of you.”

Rude frowned a bit at him. Being vague was not what Rude was interested in, so he employed the tactic that always worked: intimidation. He pressed a hand next to Fierro’s head on the tree, leaning down over him. “You’d better start talking before you make me mad.”

Fierro’s bronze cheeks grew dark with a blush. “No need to get mad. I’m not that kind of girl,” he teased, though his voice was a little breathless. Rude only realized too late that what he was doing was rife with exactly the wrong kind of meaning. “It’s more that I could use your help.”

“My help?” Rude asked, the annoyance draining out of his voice and, to his chagrin, embarrassment starting to filter in instead. “Oh, god. You just want me to move a big rock or something, don’t you?”

Fierro’s nervous expression broke out into a grin. “Don’t get me wrong, hot stuff,” he purred. “After you clean my garden, I’ll let you do whatever you want with the vegetables.”

Rude groaned, leaning back with an awkward laugh. “Why in the hell would I do that?”

“What, no kindness in your heart for me?” Fierro chuckled. “Besides, your idiot boyfriend has been barking up my man’s tree for the past week. Let’s just say I could arrange a proper meeting between the four of us if you help me out.”

“Your… man?” Rude asked, bristling a little at the man referring to Reno as his ‘idiot boyfriend’. Hearing some stranger call Reno bad names left him more irritated than he’d expected.

“Honestly? You don’t know?” Fierro asked, folding his arms now. “That I’m married to the man that runs this whole damn island?”

Rude stared at him. “You’re Paolo’s husband?” he asked, and then, in a slightly higher voice, “and you’re _hitting on me_?”

Fierro rolled his eyes. “You two really are new to this, aren’t you?” he asked. “But yes. And we’re both very open to new and unique opportunities. That’s all.” Fierro pushed Rude back a bit. “You interested?”

Rude gazed at him for a long moment, knowing this was going to be his actual way in to finding out about Avalanche. If anyone had something to do with it, it was this man. “Okay,” he said. “Just cleaning out a garden, huh?”

“Amongst other things,” Fierro chuckled, and tapped him on the nose. “I’m not ready for you, yet. I’ll be in touch. For now, go enjoy the day. Maybe get that big bump on your head looked at.” He blew a kiss at him and then slithered away, back towards the shore, and Rude stared after him like a man who knew he was about to make a big mistake.

* * *

Reno stormed back to the beach after he’d chugged down a potion-and-rum mixer that had burned on the way down. His head has ceased throbbing, at least, and was now at a dull ache. He was going to stomp back over to the umbrella and towel the two had been seated at earlier in order to pick up his sunhat when he spotted Rude in an unfamiliar black shirt talking candidly with the still mostly naked Fierro by a cluster of quaint palm trees.

Reno’s eyes zeroed in on them and found himself diving behind the ice cream stand they only stocked once a week. No one else looked at him twice, so he pulled the goofy hat off his head and squinted as he watched Rude crowd Fierro in close to a tree.

Fierro’s arms came up, his hands crossing behind his own head, as he spoke in languid, slow words at Rude. Reno wasn’t a master, but he could certainly lip read when it came to men with big, dumb mouths talking slowly. He saw “proposition for you,” followed by a lazy smile.

Reno tasted rage as it bubbled up inside him. He saw Rude turn just a bit, allowing himself to step away from Fierro, but his back was still to Reno, so he couldn’t see what he was saying. He saw Fierro laugh and then reach up to stroke the side of Rude’s neck. Rude let him.

Reno’s teeth clenched. The fucking nerve. The asshole assaulted them with a volleyball, pulled Rude out of the water and was now hitting on him? When he hadn’t even bothered to throw a flirty joke in Reno’s direction? When _Rude_ hadn’t even flirted with him!?

Fierro had taken his stupid, gaudy sunglasses off. Reno tracked as Fierro’s chocolate eyes roamed up and down Rude’s body. That dull throbbing came back powerfully, only the ache was coming from his chest, rather than his stupid head. His mouth moved and Reno struggled to string together the sentence: a man of his…stature? Something he could handle?

Rude’s hand came up and landed on the tree next to Fierro’s head, caging him in. His arm blocked Reno’s vision. But that was enough. Rude didn’t have any desire for _Reno_ , but he certainly had no problem skirting a dangerously unprofessional line with that man. Even if it was for the sake of the mission — and Reno _highly_ doubted that it was — it infuriated him that he had been trying to get Rude to give him one iota of attention in private and had gotten nothing. Less than nothing. And now, alone with another man, Rude was serving himself up on a damn platter.

_Maybe you’re not his type._

Reno just scowled, having enough. He put the hat on and stalked away from there, heading straight back to the villa. If working alone was what Rude wanted, then that’s what he would get.


	5. I'm Looking Through You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst on top of angst on top of kisses
> 
> PS ENORMOUS ENORMOUS KUDOS AND LOVE to cryogenia for helping me tool out the more sad parts of this to have it a bit more in character. Their ideas are so good. Their brain, a delicious smoothie of genius. Thank you thank you :sob:

Rude’s “avoid Reno” problem became less of a problem and more of a certainty, through no work of his own.

After Rude had been recruited by Fierro to help him with what were essentially chores, Reno had become a ghost. Rude disassembled old planter boxes and ripped up damaged PVC pipes for drip irrigation; he cleaned gutters and placed paver stones. All this was done under Fierro’s critical eye for the eventual promise of a mutual exchange of intellect — so what if Fierro thought that was going to be a dick in the mouth, when all Rude really wanted was to be a part of this secret environmentalist club he’d _definitely_ heard so much about.

The problem was that Fierro seemed to take up all his time. He’d get up at six in the morning, slink out of the house, and then spend his time with Fierro. Occasionally Fierro would “lend” him out like a damn house boy, but Rude was polite and didn’t mind sweeping the porches of others’ homes. Usually it meant getting ice cold drinks and lazy conversation, and while Rude was quiet, he was a very good listener, and very good at goading out the kind of answers he wanted to hear. This was how he ended up being the village handyman, fixing broken hinges and straightening posts and occasionally refitting pipes in kitchenettes.

In all this time, he barely caught a glimpse of fiery red hair outside of those mornings when he caught himself gazing at Reno in their shared bed, a sharp sting in his chest when he did so. At first it had been a blessing, since he had to put in so little effort to avoid the man’s desire for physical affection. It barely took five days before he realized just how much he missed his company. Gone were the quiet card games, the comparing of notes. Rude got up early, and Reno came in late. They didn’t speak, and neither seemed willing to take the first step in asking, “What the fuck did I _do_?”

It was getting to Rude. He’d see that burst of red hair while he was on his knees, drilling together a new raised planter bed, and look up with excitement to see it was just a woman’s flashy scarf tied around her head. He’d hear that nasal ‘yo’ and look around like he’d heard a ghost, because the man was nowhere to be found.

It was stupid. All he had to do was find him and talk to him. He was close to it one morning when he saw Reno’s freckled arms covered in tiny little scratches and twigs stuck in his hair. He could just shake him awake, right then. He could pull the nature from his hair and then pull him into his arms. It would be easy. Except Rude knew how fitfully Reno slept, and even then, his eyebrows were drawn down, shoulders hunched up. To wake him when he seemed to be sleeping so little seemed cruel.

He could stay in, if he really meant it. If he really wanted to talk to him and find out… What it was he was up to, at the very least. Yet, he was still on his way out the door by 6:30, the fear of that eventual conversation eating at him. He’d never been so nervous to talk to anyone about something serious. He’d had to talk to rookies about killing people. But the idea that Reno was out late, and away from him, and very likely _spending his time with someone else_ , was so painful it left him unable to approach the subject at all. If he just smothered the damn feelings, that’d make it easier.

And then, one morning, Reno was missing when Rude woke up. The sight of the other half of the bed empty at six in the morning put him instantly on edge. He’d haphazardly thrown his clothes on and dashed out the door. Rude only had one idea where the man could be at such a peculiar hour, and only hoped that he could catch him before it became impossible to follow. Leaves. Scratches. The goddamn jungle.

The commune was still very quiet this early, the only sounds the shore rolling, seabirds squawking, and songbirds tittering; Rude slipped past most of the buildings with practiced, quiet ease. When he’d reached the expansive field they’d been cultivating, he broke into a jog. His gaze focused in on the tree line of the jungle. If he could figure out where Reno had gone in, maybe he could still find him in the foliage.

The normally bright blue sky was dull and overcast that morning, a soft wind beginning to whip through the island, and Rude wished he’d pulled on a heavier shirt. The sound of the waves dulled the closer he got to the trees, until he was taking long, loping steps as he gazed into the greenery. He nearly tripped on a gnarled root, catching himself and then staring down a wet pathway that looked recently tread.

He took in a deep breath and began to track along the pathway, eyes focusing in on snapped branches and disturbed dirt. He froze when he heard a burst of wings as a dozen small birds flew straight up and out of the trees not a hundred feet ahead of him. He paused, squinting, and saw a man with long red hair waving his arms angrily at birds.

Rude let out a relieved gasp and then sprinted forward, narrowly avoiding fallen trees and a particularly slippery patch of fresh green leaves. The noise of him barreling forward was enough to get Reno to turn around in paranoia, and then anger.

“The hell are you doing here?” Reno said as Rude came to a stop in front of him. Reno then waved his hand. “Whatever, we don’t have time for this. He’s out of the house early in the morning. I gotta go _now_.” He looked so, so tired. Rude realized the man had likely just stayed up the whole night, since that was easier for him than waking up at the crack of dawn.

Rude followed him wordlessly, even though Reno gave a huff of irritation. It was _odd_ for Reno to not request help on mission stuff, particularly breaking and entering. He at least wished Reno had _told_ him where he was going. Hades only knew if Reno ended up in some Corneo-esque dungeon in the middle of the jungle.

“You gonna tell me what you’re doing here?” Reno uttered. His shirt was long sleeved and white, almost like one of his dress shirts, only it was wet and tattered, half-tucked into tight, high waisted trousers. Rude almost found it amusing: Reno dressed like a shipwrecked man, or a pirate, while waving his arms through jungle brush with a machete. It was hard to be amused knowing that this was not the first time he’d been traipsing around out here alone. He’d at least learned to cover his arms to avoid scratches from vines and trees, though it was clear it had already taken a toll on his shirt.

“You didn’t tell me you’d be gone,” Rude said blandly. Reno’s swinging arm paused for a moment, as though the gears in his brain were turning, before he slashed another set of vines out of the way. 

“You’re not my keeper and you haven’t given a damn before.”

Rude just grunted. “I have. And I worry. I’m allowed to worry.”

Reno then held up his left hand again, turning around. His right had come up to shush over his own mouth. Rude stopped, jaw snapping shut, as they listened to distant birds flock away from the canopy.

Reno’s voice was a harsh whisper. “While you were off helping out the whole damn village under your new boyfriend’s creepy gaze,” he hissed, “I’ve been doing the damn job. I know where Paolo’s home is. I was going to go in quick and infiltrate. You’ve slowed me down, and now I need to make sure you aren’t spotted either. I’m pissed. Capisce?”

Rude stared at him, hard, behind the sunglasses. Reno’s exhaustion was bone deep. His pretty eyes were pinched and circled in purple, and his mouth was drawn into a long, flat line. Rude nodded curtly, and Reno turned back around and led the rest of the way through the vine and branch filled path.

Thirty minutes of uncomfortable silence later, the sight of light reflecting off a car mirror glinted as a small clearing faded into their vision. A quaint home, sun-bleached to a pale orange, spread out before them. A broken down motorhome was parked near it, where they saw the mirror. Great shrubs of flowers dotted around the house.

Reno looked around as well as he could and then slinked forward. His booted footsteps didn’t make a noise, either on the leafy ground or on smooth pave stones. Reno glided up to the front door, pulling two pins from out of his hair clasp and picking the lock.

It took him fifteen seconds before the lock gave a satisfying click. The door swung open with a loud creak. Both winced, glancing behind themselves, but there was nothing. No one.

They spread out. Reno went looking for hidden passages, tugging on every bit of molding and knocking on walls. Rude went into the kitchen, eyeing the ceiling and behind appliances. There were a few papers scattered about, but nothing of use. Paolo seemed to take any scrap of paper and scribble on it: order lists, recipes, honeydos, made-up names. None of it told them anything.

The two ended up in the bedroom, which was dark and intimate and lined in tall book shelves. They groaned inwardly at each other, realizing this could mean tugging on every damn book in the hopes of finding a secret passage. The house had been so small, it was hard to imagine there could be one, but what if they missed it?

With no talking, a strange kind of comfort settled over them. They could be together as long as they didn’t talk. That made it okay to be in each other’s presence, even if Reno had admitted he didn’t want him there.

The two silently worked through opposite ends of shelves when they heard something terrifying: the front door’s loud squeak. They stared at each other in growing panic, before Rude pointed at the slatted-closet doors near the bed. Reno nodded, and the two pressed the doors open and closed themselves in. The closet was crowded with clothes and overhanging boxes, so there wasn’t much room to stand.

It was dark in the closet, only the light from the bedroom lamp streaking in through the slats. They were pressed together, chest to chest, knee to knee, and Rude stared down at the light slashed across Reno’s face. At his eyes.

He could hear the footsteps of someone else. They had to stay quiet. Rude held his breath, his arms reflexively sliding around Reno’s body. The light on his face flashed, as though the person out there — Paolo, most definitely — had just walked by. Rude stared at Reno, and Reno stared back at him. This close, Rude could feel the other’s heart racing, slamming against his ribs, trying to get out.

This close, Rude could smell Reno’s sweat, and the perfume oil he frequently dabbed at his neck and under his ears, and the faintly sweet scent of sunblock. This close, Rude felt utterly stupid for having avoided the other man. Holding him felt like he was recharging an aching, empty body. Rude tipped his head down, his forehead resting softly against Reno’s.

Rude let out a soft, shaky breath. Reno did, too, and Rude felt the puff of nervous air on his lips. He pulled his sunglasses off, tucking them into his pocket and then wrapped his arm back around Reno. They gazed at each other, and without the sunglasses, Reno’s eyes seemed to soften under Rude’s gaze.

The front door creaked again, and then slammed shut. There was a distant shout, like Paolo had been with someone and run back to check for something in the house, and then left again.

Reno exhaled, his shoulders releasing. He let out a soft laugh. “We’re good,” he whispered.

“Reno,” Rude said quietly, and then kissed him.

Reno froze under the kiss. He’d gone without their pretend kisses, but he remembered what they were like, and it wasn’t this. This was long and warm, and Rude’s hand crawled up the back of Reno’s head to caress him and hold him in place. Reno gasped, and as his mouth opened Rude’s tongue slid past the barrier of his lips, tickling against the softness inside.

Rude had wanted this so badly that the part of his mind screaming that no, this was a terrible idea, seemed muffled. Up close and in his arms, the sometimes effeminate man in front of him felt thick and muscular; the spicy natural scent of him and shampoo mixed in a way that caused the synapses in Rude’s brain to fizzle out in dazed pleasure. His lips and jaw were so soft, Rude tightened his grasp on him, not wanting to let go.

Reflexively they clutched at each other, kissing in the dark heat of that closet. Reno’s brain felt hazy, the satisfaction and good feelings bouncing around in a head of confused fog. His fingers grasped desperately at Rude’s shirt, letting out a shaky moan.

Their lips separated. It was quiet, then, other than the nervous heavy breaths coming out of both of them. And then, as quickly as they’d started, Rude jerked backwards. “Shit,” he uttered, and then threw the closet door open. They both winced at the light, Reno’s pupils shrinking down in a flash as Rude scrambled out of the shadow.

“Rude?” Reno asked, his lips still wet and his heart still pounding. “H-hey! Rude!” He stepped into the bedroom and could hear retreating footsteps. The happy feelings the kiss had given him were retracting like his pupils had as he realized Rude had kissed him and then literally run away. “You can’t leave me here, we’re on a mission, asshole!” he yelled, but there was no response. He sprinted out into the main living room to see the front door swinging open. Rude had already disappeared into the trees.

Reno stared out the door. Shouting after the man wasn’t going to help anything and would even put him in danger. He put a hand on the back of his neck while the gears turned in his brain. Trapped in a dark place, pressed together, Rude had kissed him as though it wasn’t possible to stop himself. After a moment, he’d seemed to realize what he was doing and had gotten away from him.

Fury stung at Reno’s eyes. It was true, then. Rude didn’t want him. He’d tried it and been so disgusted he had literally run into the jungle to avoid him. He felt like his chest was crumpling in on itself, heartbeat erratic while it tried to process what had just happened to him. When the door blurred, Reno wiped angrily at his eyes. “Shithead,” he said, and wasn’t sure if he was saying it to himself or that no-longer-bald bastard.

He clenched his teeth and left the house. He tried to get a hold of himself, but the cold grip of sadness was starting to coil around his stomach. He took in two great gasps of air and then hobbled towards the abandoned RV. With stumbling fingers, in several minutes he was able to pick the lock on that as well.

Inside the RV were dozens of cardboard boxes. All of them had permanent marker descriptions on the side, and some were torn open. Reno stepped up to one of the open boxes to see they were full of flyers. A hand drawn picture of Stamp stared back at him, and the flavor text: “Save the planet! Assemble with AVALANCHE for peaceful change!”

The flyer crumpled in his hand. He’d found the solid proof, but he felt no excitement. He balled the garbage up and crammed it into his pocket and then stumbled out of the RV, out of the clearing, back into the jungle.

There, where there was no one but the shrieking of birds and monkeys and insects, he let bitter tears streak his cheeks. The stormy weather’s wind threw sticks and leaves in his face, and he didn’t seem to notice. He was so focused on the discomfort churning inside his own body he didn’t care about the elements attempting to harm him.

He took comfort in them instead, plopping down on a fallen log and letting himself be utterly alone.

* * *

He’d ruined it. He’d ruined the perfectly awful balance they had struck. Always out of reach but never too close or too far. Sure, it had been miserable, but it had worked nonetheless. And now, as Rude ran through the thick jungle foliage, he was nearing hysteria.

The kiss had been so good. The feel of the other man so fully, intimately in his arms had caused the hair to raise on the back of his neck. The taste of him made his mouth water. The thought of him made his heart stumble over itself — though maybe that was the full-on-sprint. He broke out into the field after running for what felt like thirty minutes straight, little cuts from errant branches stinging on his cheeks.

He’d ruined that. Reno would want more, once, and then never again. What the hell was he going to do with that? Hell, judging by how pissed Reno had been earlier, maybe he didn’t even want him at all. It was natural to respond positively to a kiss, it didn’t have to mean that there was anything _there_. Shit. Shit. Shit.

The sun was fully up, but it didn’t seem to make a difference as the clouds darkened. It was going to rain, and he’d left the man there, after kissing him _without asking_. He had screwed up so badly that the normally cool, collected nature of him was twisted up into a damn tornado.

No one was in the fields, but he squinted and could see people tying down tarps over pallets and closing up the doors of the kitchens. He leaned forward on his knees in an attempt to catch his breath. The panic that had overwhelmed him was so unusual it left him feeling unsteady. And now what? What had running from there done for him instead of grabbing Reno by the shoulders and saying, _We should talk._

He shuddered at just the thought, and realized the reason was staring him in the face: he was a coward.

He turned back towards the darkening trees and cursed. Reno would make it out just fine. Whether or not they could salvage that platonic friendship out of what Rude had just done was a completely different story.

He wandered back into the hustle and bustle of the commune while people prepared for what was looking like a torrential downpour. Shady had slapped his back and asked him if he was okay, and after a quiet shrug, Shady put him to work stacking wood underneath a lean-to.

An hour of menial labor passed, then two, and the skies opened up. Rude dashed back to the shared cottage with the hope that Reno would be sulkily waiting for him, but was met with cold, eery silence. The rain crashed down on the roof, and the floor groaned softly under his feet, but otherwise he was alone.

 _He’s fine_ , Rude thought, peeling his shirt off and balling it up. _He’s probably at someone else’s. That’s where he’s been at nights, right?_

Not that he had any reason to believe that was the case. Reno had bitterly told him that morning that he’d been truly working in order to find Paolo’s suspiciously hidden homestead. Where would he be staying? The redhead could barely handle Jessie, Biggs and Wedge in public, alone he’d snap. Fierro still hadn’t said a kind word in Reno’s direction, and Paolo was obviously not housing the man at night.

Elena would have come stomping to his doorstep to complain about Reno taking up space in her house.

He’d looked so tired. Defeated, even after discovering exactly what he’d set out to do. Had he just been staying out late, alone? Surveying the damn jungle in the middle of the night and not telling Rude anything? Why would he be avoiding him if all he wanted was a quick fuck and then to be done with him?

Why would he be so genuinely pissed off about Rude accidentally fulfilling a honeypot role with Fierro — not that it had _gone_ anywhere — unless he’d had some other issue?

What if, when they’d kissed, that aching, yearning warmth that Rude had felt was mutual?

“Oh, shit,” Rude said to the open air. He scrambled to pull a black sweater over his head, the texture of his hair catching on its soft fabric. Reno was outwardly loud and sadistic, but he tended to turn that in on himself and become self destructive when he didn’t have a real outlet for emotional turmoil. Of course Reno was running himself ragged. Rude had been rejecting him over and over, platonic and otherwise, and then he’d _kissed him_ and _booked it_.

He dashed out of the front door of the villa and a moment later was soaked through. The rain was heavy and angled, the wind blowing the water at his eyes. He’d forgotten his sunglasses after tugging the sweater on. They didn’t matter, his wet clothes didn’t matter. He just needed to figure out where the damn madman was hiding himself away.

Shiva, he hoped he wasn’t still in the jungle.

The kitchens were empty, and the little school area as well. All the homes along the perimeter had their quaint lights on, windows glowing as the storm pummeled him. He paused, standing still to look around for that glimpse of sad wet red hair and thinking, where would he go?

The rain distorted and darkened everything in his view. The last thing he wanted to do was call for him — god only knew what the locals would think of _that_. So instead he began to look under the ledges of homes and sheds, the way one might look for their lost cat.

And there, pressed against the very stack of logs Rude had set up earlier, barely covered by the lean-to’s tin roof, was the very wet form of a thin man in a ripped white shirt that was translucent from the rain. His head was pressed into his knees, his arms wrapped around his legs, and Rude had never seen a more miserable creature in his life. And _he’d_ done that.

Rude rushed to the lean-to and dropped to his knees in front of Reno, effectively blocking the more diagonal rain from spitting down on him. “Hey,” he said, his voice so soft it was nearly lost to the sound of water crashing on the metal above them.

Reno’s response was muffled and miserable: “Fuck off.”

“Come back with me,” Rude said, planting his hands on the wall behind Reno to block out more of the rain. “It’s freezing out here.”

“Don’t care.”

Rude’s mouth drew into a flat line. He did not want to have _this_ conversation in the cold. Just seeing Reno like this made it hard to form coherent thoughts; his big dumb heart was screaming at him to protect this man, instead of hurt him, over and over.

“Reno,” Rude started.

Reno’s head shot up, and his eyes looked flat. “Take the hint, asshole!” he said too loudly, and his voice quavered.

The light had gone out in him, and Rude broke. His arms lurched away from the shed wall to instead wrap around Reno’s sopping wet body. “I’m sorry. I wanted you so badly that I confused myself about what you could possibly want, from me.”

Reno struggled in his grip, ever the unhappy feline that did not want to be held. “The fuck are you talking about?” Reno asked, his tone of angry disbelief. “One second you’re flirting with me, the next you’re hiding from me. You’re a fuckin’ brick shithouse of mixed signals. I should have known, since you were so defensive since day fucking one. Then, I think we have a pretty good _thing_ going, and you decide to just fuck off? We barely even talked about the whole reason for us being here. But I like you, you know?” Reno’s voice choked off there, and he shoved hard at Rude to finally manage to push the taller man back on his ass. Sandy mud kicked up on both of them. Rude said nothing. “So I figured, maybe it’d work out anyway. Maybe it’d stay like it always was and that little _fantasy_ could at least help me get by livin’ on your goddamn scraps, but the more I’d get, the more you’d pull away!”

Reno’s knees pulled closer to him, and his eyes stayed directly on the ground, not even at Rude’s sprawled legs. “And then you started spending all your damn time with the fucking target, but you weren’t getting anywhere with Avalanche, huh? Just diggin’ up his fuckin’ rocks. I don’t know what your _deal_ is, but if you have shit to work through, okay, whatever. But when it starts interfering with our — _my_ — work, I don’t want it, you know? And then you just had to come look for me, this morning and claim you’re worried? About what! You had no idea what the hell I was doing since you didn’t give a fuck to look for me and ask.”

“I didn’t—”

“Shut up,” Reno snapped, and looked up, then. Rude had been watching him the whole time, and when their eyes met, Reno felt that light fill back up inside him, only it was a fire: a burning anger of accusal. “You fucking kissed me and then ran off like you were gonna shit bricks. I’m not…” Reno took in a savage breath. “I’m not a fucking toy. I don’t do that shit anymore.”

Rude’s mouth worked, but Reno was glaring at him so fiercely that his jaw clenched shut. Reno’s shoulders were shaking, but he was so furious that Rude wasn’t sure if it was the cold or the emotion. He would not have been surprised if steam had begun to roll off the other man’s wound-tight body.

Reno just laughed, then, a sickly sound as his head fell back against the wall with enough force to cause water to cascade down onto Rude from his position just under the edge of the roof. “Serves my dumb ass right for breaking the rule.”

“The rule?” came tumbling out of Rude’s mouth before he had the chance to stop it. Reno’s body shook with a second self deprecating croak of laughter.

“Not chasing after people, you idiot,” Reno huffed, head falling to the side. “I just wanted you so much, and hell, I thought I saw, felt, that you did too. And I thought, maybe this time I wouldn’t get burned, because it’s… It’s you.” He lifted his head then, misty eyes leveled on Rude who now looked as cold and wet as Reno felt. “But you were so weird about it, I realized I must have been wrong. Seeing things that weren’t there, just that I’d hoped were.”

Rude’s fingers dug into his own thighs, despair flooding his lungs at just how wrong he had been about everything. An apology was banging around in his head, but he had no way to form it into words that would mean anything. Reno was baring himself to him like this, defeated and crushed and yet still with enough spark to be enraged at him. He was a fighter like that. “Why’d you have the rule?” Rude asked instead, giving himself more time to figure out just what the _hell_ he had to say for himself.

“‘Cause every guy would fall under the impression that I was hot and easy and not worth much else,” Reno hummed, a kind of sad smirk settling on his angular features. “But you would never do that, no. Not Rude. He’s not a fucking dick, right?” A third hollow laugh. “I just thought, maybe you’d come around. And it’d work out for me, for once.”

For _once_?

“You don’t date because they didn’t want to,” Rude whispered, awe threading through his voice. “Not because you don’t want a relationship.”

“Why wouldn’t I fucking want that?” Reno asked too loudly, and the rain thundered in response. “Don’t I deserve somebody who doesn’t think I’m a fuckin’ science experiment?”

Rude pushed himself to his knees and scooted forward. Water was pouring down his face until he got close enough that he was crowded under the roof. “Can I explain?”

Reno pressed further back against the wall, a visual cue that he didn’t want Rude to get too close. “It ain’t gonna help.”

“It’s really not,” Rude breathed. He brought his hands up, dirty with mud, and gazed at his palms. “I was just scared that you wouldn’t want more than a quick roll in the hay, because that’s all I really saw you doing with, with others. And my feelings for you were…too substantial for me to handle that outcome.” He looked up, and found Reno looking back at him. His eyes were still angry. Angrier. “The longer we were stuck here the more I realized I couldn’t just keep pretending that it was all nothing. That first night, when I woke up and saw your body in my bed, _our_ bed, I…” He shook his head. His fingers slowly closed onto his palms. “The way I want you has a certain permanence, and I couldn’t risk the mission, I couldn’t risk our _friendship_ thinking that you wouldn’t want that.”

Reno looked conflicted: cold and wet and sad whipped up with righteous fury, all laced with the cosmically hilarious concept that Rude didn’t want to be with him because he was afraid _Reno_ wouldn’t _want him_.

“You must really think I’m broken, huh?” Reno asked, slowly folding his arms. “That the most hot and kind man on the planet wouldn’t be enough to get me to change ‘my ways’.”

“I’m not that kind,” Rude said voicelessly.

“I’m seeing that,” Reno replied. “You’re pretty damn stupid, too.”

Rude didn’t refute it, but he didn’t shy away, either. This time as he leaned forward, Reno did not ease away. Instead he felt Rude’s hands, shockingly warm, land on his arms. “I am. And I wouldn’t blame you if you pulled out that satellite PHS and got the hell out of here and away from me.” Reno’s eyes flashed at him. “But I also know when something is worth fighting for. Even if I took my time figuring it out.”

“So?” Reno asked. The cold that had seeped into his bones seemed to numb at this new buzzing, scary feeling of anticipation spreading from his belly outwards.

“So,” Rude said, and touched their foreheads together. The scents from earlier were washed away in rain and despair, but that pressing of skin caused an instant connection to the memory of their kiss that morning. “I’m going to prove to you that I want you. That I need you. I’m going to make it up to you.”

Reno’s breath grew staccato. The scary feeling was growing into a maddening, heart-crushing warmth that he wasn’t sure how to handle. “You think I’d l-let you?” Reno breathed, even as every impulse in his body yearned to throw himself into the other man. “After all this shit?”

“I told you I’d fight for it,” Rude said, and then leaned forward, their lips a ghost’s breadth apart. He hadn’t asked before, and this time he wasn’t taking any chances. “Can I kiss you?”

Reno wanted to think it was a bad idea after everything, but Rude’s own body was quaking with the same intensity his was. Even if it was just from the rain, he’d never wanted another soul as much as he wanted his partner. His chest felt open and raw, and he needed something, anything, to close it up again. “Okay,” Reno said, and still gasped when he felt Rude’s lips press against his.

This time, the tenderness was gone; Reno didn’t let him be gentle when he was still so mad that it had turned out this way. He bit Rude’s lip and shoved his tongue inside. He stopped clawing at his own arms to instead pull at Rude’s. Their knees bumped and kept them from getting any closer, and after Reno bit him _again_ , Rude pulled back with a tiny surprised laugh. “Can I please take you back to the house?” he breathed. “Can I _please_ dry you off?”

“Why should I?” Reno said, though his voice was less angry and more rowdy. He was riled up.

“How about this,” Rude said, and forced his hands between Reno’s knees. He pushed them open, spreading out his legs so Rude could properly crawl between them. Reno was only slightly ashamed to admit it had sent a bolt of desire straight through him, and though he let Rude get closer, his legs closed around his waist in a moment of defiance. “I’ll carry you back, like this,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to his temple, the way he had dozens of times in public to pass a secret between them. “I’ll dry you off and warm you up, in whatever way I can.” His voice was laced with innuendo, and the shivering under his fingers had nothing to do with the cold, now. “And tomorrow, once it’s stopped raining, we can spar. No rules. I know you want to sock me in the jaw.”

“I do,” Reno breathed, rocking his body forward into Rude’s embrace. He was hot and damp and it really was unpleasant like this. The idea of being dry and warm, alone with Rude for the rest of the evening was one that caused his heart to race. “You’re gonna carry me?”

Rude just grunted a bit, sliding one hand under Reno’s bottom as he came to a standing position. Reno’s arms flew around his neck, ankles crossed at the small of Rude’s back, and he settled against him as both Rude’s hands supported him from underneath. “Like this.”

“And you promise, you’ll let me punch you?”

“I may be stupid,” Rude murmured, turning and walking them slowly back to their villa in the rain, “but I keep my word.”

“Okay,” Reno laughed breathlessly, kissing him again as they awkwardly walked through the storm. “Deal.”


	6. I Want You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🚨🚨🚨 smut alert 🚨🚨🚨

Rude pressed Reno up against the front door of the villa, a soft laugh passing his lips as one of his hands slipped from under him. “That’ll be fifty gil for your taxi,” he murmured.

Reno’s legs wobbled, but his feet planted themselves sturdily to the ground. “Eat my ass,” he uttered sourly. Rude turned the handle on the door and crowded into Reno’s personal space again as he pushed it open with Reno attached to it.

“I can do that,” Rude purred, and Reno’s expression exploded into flustered embarrassment. The house was warm, and when they closed the door the sudden lack of wind was a godsend. “But I have some priorities.”

“Priorities?” Reno choked, trying to gain his bearings as he felt Rude curl his fingers into his belt loops and yank him closer.

“Wait for me in the bedroom,” Rude said, pressing a kiss onto Reno’s once blue lips. “I’ll only be a minute.”

“What’re you doin’?” Reno asked, trying to be more sly, but when Rude’s hand slid around and squeezed at his ass, he lost his train of thought and let out a soft moan.

“I’ll _only_ be a minute,” Rude repeated, and then turned Reno toward the direction of their bedroom and gave his ass a light swat to send him on his way.

Reno’s legs moved of their own accord. He stood in front of the bed a moment later, dripping onto the floor and wondering what the hell was about to happen to him. Wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. Wondering if he’d wake up tomorrow in the middle of the jungle after having passed out in the cold rain and was hallucinating all of this. He heard Rude futzing around in the kitchen; water running, something clinking.

A moment later, Rude was behind him, his mouth teasing on Reno’s neck. “Hey,” he murmured.

“Hi,” Reno whispered, a strange laugh bubbling out of him. “The hell are you doing?”

“Let’s get you out of these wet clothes,” Rude said, stepping around him so they faced each other. Reno’s cheeks were red, but it wasn’t obvious if it was him warming up from being so cold for so long, or genuine bashfulness. Rude gave him a small, private smile as he rolled his own sweater up and off of his broad torso, letting it fall on the floor with a wet plop. He reached for Reno’s belt loops again, and this time Reno stepped right up to him with a hot puff of breath.

Rude peeled the thin wet shirt off of Reno’s slender body, his warm, if slightly damp, hands sliding from neck to navel. Goosebumps followed Rude’s hands as Reno shivered, watching him with a flushed smile. Rude’s fingers found the button fly of Reno’s pants and slowly worked each one open, his knuckles brushing against him intimately with each pass. Reno exhaled. “Can you undress me faster?” he huffed impatiently.

Rude laughed softly, bending down to trail his tongue over the shell of Reno’s ear. “Nothing I’m going to do to you is going to be fast,” he murmured, hooking his thumbs into the waistband of his pants and tugging them down his muscular thighs. His underwear, a gaudy, bright orange and black tiger striped set of boxer briefs, stayed in place, even though they weren’t completely dry. Rude slid to his knees to pull Reno’s muddy shoes off and then let him step out of his pants. Reno’s hands fell on Rude’s shoulders to steady himself.

“What if I ask nicely?” Reno breathed, staring down at the man in front of him. The sight of Rude on his knees, now pressing a burning hot kiss to the sharp line of his hip bone, made his head swim.

“You do make it hard to say no,” Rude chuckled, and then stood up so that he could shimmy out of his own wet jeans and shoes. Reno stood in front of him, shivering with his wet hair still dripping down his chest, but still couldn’t move. He seemed nervous, like any misstep could send Rude out again.

Rude seemed to acknowledge this, and walked past Reno completely, leaving the redhead in a state of worried surprise for a very short fifteen seconds. Then Rude returned, wrapping an enormous, clean towel around Reno’s shoulders and then sliding it up and over his head.

“Hey—” Reno whined as Rude none-too-gently scrubbed all the cold rain from his scalp. Rude just gave him a patient grin as the towel moved back down to his shoulders and arms.

“Sit,” Rude said, and walked Reno back towards the bed. The back of Reno’s thighs hit the bed and he sat down reflexively. His arms lifted while Rude dried off his chest and abs thoroughly, and then his legs. When he got to his feet, Rude knelt down and took extra care to warm and dry them off, especially since he’d been running around all morning in the more uncomfortable heavy boots.

The act itself was drying Rude off, his own excess body heat emanating in gentle waves of warmth as he made passes over Reno’s rapidly warming body. He also couldn’t help but notice the attention was making a substantial impression on Reno; the outline of his cock in those ridiculous briefs had grown more prominent and heavy the longer Rude’s fingers worked over his calves and sides and shoulders.

“You’re awful quiet,” Rude said, finally, as he tossed he now damp towel at the foot of the bed. He eased up onto the mattress slowly, one knee planting itself next to Reno’s thigh.

“Honestly?” Reno said, trying to control the trembles squirming out of his core. “I’m afraid if I start talking I’ll start babbling and I… Uh…” This time, his blush was very visible as his face grew ashamed, eyes darting away from Rude’s.

“What is it?” Rude asked. Reno didn’t say anything, so Rude’s other knee came up and landed next to Reno’s other thigh. He was straddling him, though hovering above so they didn’t touch. A soft moan of surprise passed Reno’s lips, and Rude leaned down to kiss in front of his ear. “You still worried I’m going to leave?”

Reno bit his lip and mumbled, “Mm.” Rude kept himself from frowning by sliding his hands down Reno’s arms and pressing him back into the bed. Rude was above him then, their bodies pressed in one long, hot line where Reno could properly feel just how affected Rude was by all of this.

“Oh, fuck,” Reno whispered, his head tipping back. “I knew you’d be well hung.”

Rude blushed despite himself. “Reno,” he chastised, curving his neck to bite down on Reno’s, sucking on the pulse point that fluttered under his lips. “You’re stuck with me. Got it?”

Reno was pressing up against him, the damp underwear almost beginning to chafe. “Uh-huh,” he breathed, the words coming out of Rude not nearly half as important as the feel of their cocks grinding together. “Less talking, more kissing.”

Rude’s lips moved up to his ear, offering up another warm laugh before he kissed him properly on the mouth. Below him, Reno’s body lurched up like a live wire, his arms tight around Rude’s back. Rude was _good_ at kissing, the occasional probe from the tip of his tongue causing cascades of shivers to course through Reno’s already tense body.

When they broke from the kiss, they were both breathing harder. Rude couldn’t help but smirk down at him. “I’m going to spend the rest of this day learning every inch of you.” His voice was a purr, but Reno just groaned, burying his face into Rude’s neck.

“You’re _so lame_ ,” he moaned, as though the affection was unbearable. His shoulders shook with a gentle chuckle. “Don’t stop, though.”

Rude pushed him further onto the bed so neither were hanging off of it, and Reno let his head fall back onto the pillows. His eyes were half lidded, and his usual smug smirk was dimmed to a smaller more nervous grin. Rude’s hands pressed into the mattress on either side of his arms, fingers clenching at just the sight of the man below him panting softly.

Rude bent down to kiss his collarbones, his bare fingertips sliding ticklishly up Reno’s sides. Reno’s nose was scrunched up, silently warring between the desire to give in to the excitement of having Rude’s bare fingers slide over him with such intent — versus the rare time he’d had Rude touching him tenderly on bare flesh with his gloves on, normally while Reno was being bandaged up — and the irritation of Rude treating him with, he thought with a wry smirk, kid gloves.

Reno instead tried to turn off his flighty mind, especially when Rude’s lips found a nipple. The sound that came out of him caused a shiver to pass over Rude’s shoulders; he had _never_ heard a gasp like that from his brassy partner. It’s a double edged lick of excitement, since Rude had been _dreaming_ about getting his mouth on Reno’s chest since — well, since forever, but especially since he’d been seeing him shirtless.

“I’ve wanted you so badly,” Rude moaned softly into his skin, looking up at Reno to catch his eyes, but the redhead had his head thrown back. He smirked, moving to the other nipple and sucking and biting at it.

“N-no fair,” Reno hissed, trying to stem the embarrassing noises slipping out of him. Rude’s hand came up to flick at the other taut nub, and Reno just let his mouth fall open and give in, writhing as much as he could up against Rude’s broad, warm body.

“It was torture to see you without a shirt on,” Rude said in between biting kisses and sucking licks. “Worse in the morning, when you were still asleep in that damn sleep shirt riding up. Showing me what I wasn’t supposed to see.” Rude finally left his chest alone as he made his way downward with slow, dry kisses. “I’ve been losing my damn mind. I haven’t gotten off since before we arrived.”

That finally got Reno’s head to jerk up. “What!? Why?”

“Too paranoid,” Rude said, letting his tongue slide out to trace the muscles at Reno’s abs. Reno squirmed at the ticklish touch. “I didn’t want to get caught. By you or anyone else.”

“Three weeks?” Reno asked, now unable to tear his eyes away from Rude hovering awfully close to a noticeable need. “I’ve been jacking off every morning thinking about you.”

Rude pressed his face into Reno’s skin and groaned at that revelation, biting just below his navel. Reno had to stop watching lest he lose his damn mind, and finally let his head fall back as he felt Rude move agonizingly slowly downwards, drawing his tongue down the center of his thigh. Reno’s desire was so strong it felt like a headache, like his ears were starting to ring, until he realized that was not him. An actual high-pitched whistling was radiating out of the kitchen.

Rude pushed himself up off of Reno and off the bed with surprising energy. “Be right back.”

Reno looked up in annoyance, though found himself more panicked than anything else. “Where—!?”

Rude grinned indulgently at him. “I’ll be _right_ back,” he insisted. True to his word, he was out of the bedroom for half a minute, and then sauntered back in with a dish towel and the tea kettle. _That’s_ what had been whistling. Rude placed the kettle on the floor before attempting to crawl back into the bed.

“Wait!” Reno blurted out, causing Rude to freeze. Reno took the moment to stare at the broad, bronzed man in front of him, eyes roaming from top to bottom. His tongue darted out over his bottom lip. “Take ‘em off.”

Rude gave him a little smile. “Oh?”

“I wanna see you,” Reno breathed.

The tone punched the breath out of Rude all at once. He hooked his thumbs into his utilitarian black boxer briefs and removed them, his cock bouncing free. He was big, big enough that Reno’s mouth fell open.

“Damn,” Reno uttered, and leaned back into the bed as Rude hovered over him. One knee onto the bed, and then the other, drawing his hand from Reno’s neck down to Reno’s waistband.

“This is about you,” Rude insisted, “and everything I want to _do_ to you.”

“What’d you have in mind?” Reno asked, and then gasped as Rude peeled his underwear off of him. His thumbs grazed Reno’s twitching length on the way down.

“I have to taste you,” Rude rumbled. His lips grazed the edge of Reno’s need, and then his tongue slid out to carefully taste. Rude could practically hear the gears in Reno’s head turning as he tried to push himself up to watch. He gave in, head falling back when Rude’s mouth took in the head of his cock inside, and then sank deeper on it.

“You really like that?” Reno asked, his breath coming fast and irregular. Rude just moaned in response, too invested in the task to say anything.

Reno felt so hard under his lips and tongue that it drove Rude a little crazy. He forced himself to push his own hips up away from the bed, already on a hair trigger. Without having to worry about is own dick, Rude was able to put all his effort into sucking Reno’s. The wet, slippery sounds were so obscene, they were pulling whimpers out of Reno. Rude wanted him to lose it, and he slid his hands underneath Reno’s hips to push them up into Rude’s open mouth encouragingly.

Reno managed to push himself up enough to watch this time, placing one hand on the back of Rude’s neck as he started to thrust up into his accommodating mouth. “Oh, fuck,” Reno gasped, realizing he wasn’t going to be able to stop, and clutched at him tighter as he fucked Rude’s mouth. Rude’s eyes, warm and dark, met his, and he couldn’t hold on any longer; his voice choked off in his throat as he came, Rude’s mouth dropping all the way down and sucking him down with every pulse of his release.

Reno couldn’t look away from him, the orgasm still tingling through his body as he slipped out of Rude’s swollen lips. He didn’t want to let go of him, the flood of dopamine coursing through his chest making him desperate to touch, to kiss. “Come up here,” he rasped. “Lemme return the favor. Please, c’mon.”

Rude drew himself forward but stammered, “Wait..!” He moved forward until his own cock, flushed dark and leaking at the tip, hovered above Reno’s spent one. “I’m too close,” he whispered, a blush lighting up his cheeks. “If you touch me I’m just gonna come.”

Reno stared at him, his expression growing devilish and eager, as he tugged on him by the shoulder. “Kneel above my stomach,” he said, hands tapping at him frantically. “I gotta watch you come, c’mon.”

Rude just groaned, a soft laugh of disbelief puffing out of him as he drew himself up, knees landing on either side of Reno’s thighs and then scooting forward. Reno’s eyes grew wide and hungry, his left hand coming up to lightly wrap around Rude’s cock, thumb pushing back the foreskin.

Rude was clenching his teeth. “Reno…!” His entire body was trembling with the effort and Reno took pity on him, his hand tightening and jerking him in tight, fast movements. He couldn’t help imagining what it was going to feel like to have this man rail him as the first lines of cum splattered out of him, and then more, and more. Rude was doing his best to not thrash, his hands tight on Reno’s hips as he coated his partner in it, finally gasping out the breath of a dying man. “Holy…”

“Damn,” Reno hummed, finally letting go of Rude to bring his slick hand up to his mouth to lick his fingers clean with a little cheeky grin.

Rude pulled Reno’s hand away from his mouth so that he could lean down and kiss him, pressing his tongue in to taste himself in the kiss. Rude couldn’t help the light laugh. “I wanted to save that for your ass,” he admitted.

“So messy,” Reno laughed, biting at Rude’s lips.

Rude let go of Reno and pushed himself up and off the bed with a lifted eyebrow, picking up the kettle and pouring some of the new cooled water onto the towel he’d brought with him. He wiped down Reno’s sticky torso with a light smirk. “You see, now?”

“How are you so hot and scary, and still a nerd?” Reno asked.

“Oh? Want me to stop?” Rude asked, not meeting his gaze even as that tiny smirk widened a bit.

Reno stretched under him like a cat, tilting his neck to the side where some of the errant spunk could be wiped off. “Nah, you know I like that shit.” Rude’s eyes flashed towards Reno’s face, and he could see the painfully flirtatious look Reno was sending him. “The nerdy shit.”

“Should I be insulted?” The clean parts of the towel moved back down over him, scrubbing at his thighs.

Reno let out a soft groan at the feeling of being cleaned this way; Rude would stop and wet the towel down again in, keeping him warm and clean but not wet. “Still nah. I like watching you reading books,” he sighed, lips spread into a self indulgent smile. “Catching you straightening paintings. That like, potted plant you take care of.”

Rude felt his heart pound hard in his chest, pausing in his washing of the other man. “What about it?”

“ You totally love that thing. I’ve been drunk as a skunk on your couch, you not much better, and still humming while you water that thing.”

Rude went quiet, the embarrassment plain as day on his face. Reno sat up on his core strength alone, arms floating up to slide around Rude’s neck. “Hey, c’mon, I told you.” Reno let himself kiss Rude gently, slowly, a luxury he wasn’t used to, until Rude opened his mouth and Reno teasingly passed his tongue over Rude’s lips before breaking away. His voice was quiet and painfully sincere. “I love that stuff.”

Rude sat back, legs folded under him, and pulled Reno into his lap. “Do you have any idea,” he asked as he wrapped his arms around the other man, “how much I wanted to kiss you, the last time we were at the beach?”

Reno’s voice grew higher and more amused then, letting himself take the lead in the teasing kisses he laid on Rude in between sentences. “I thought you actually were going to.” He pulled back enough that his hands — that Rude had carefully scrubbed clean minutes earlier — could slide up the back of Rude’s head, fingers teasing at the dark regrowth that he hadn’t been bothering to shave.

“I thought I was too,” Rude admitted, huffing at the soft tug from Reno. His hands dragged over Reno’s back as he squeezed him closer. “If Wedge hadn’t interrupted us, I would have given in. You in that little suit in nothing else…” He laughed as Reno nuzzled his cheek, hiding his own blush. “Would have just set you like this and let you grind down on me until it was too late.”

Reno faked scandalized as he made a noisy gasp. “In front of everyone?”

Rude let his eyes shut as his arms finally settled around Reno, one around his waist to hold him securely. “Could hardly be blamed for it,” he affirmed. “Everyone already knows you’re hot. That way they’d know you’re mine.”

Reno felt his cock twitch at the possessiveness, finding it a little hard to pull off cockiness with his own heart pounding so hard. “You want to show me off, huh?” Reno mumbled, a shiver curling it sway down his spine at the thought. Boy, that’d piss of Fierro.

“I should have been doing that the whole time,” Rude agreed, moving to kiss Reno’s neck. “I’ve wanted to.” He sank his teeth into his neck as Reno squirmed.

“Sure had a funny way of showing it,” Reno huffed, causing Rude to make an embarrassed moan.

“Can we just—forget about my previous conduct—”

“Uh-uh. Absolutely not. You’re gonna spend forever making it up to me,” Reno said smugly.

Rude’s shoulders heaved with a sigh as he let go of the other man. “You’re right,” he said, and then smirked at him as he pushed him back onto the bed.

“Hey—!” Reno yelped playfully as Rude rolled him onto his stomach, and then pulled Reno’s ass up in the air. He made another outraged sound but brought his legs up so that his head was in the sheets but he was up on his knees. Rude pressed his knee between Reno’s to spread them out, and then stepped between his legs to drape himself over Reno’s back.

Reno just froze, trying to memorize the feeling of Rude above him, touching him, _this way_. He’d thought about this more times than he could count, his already interested dick filling quickly again. He tried to calm down as he felt Rude drag that re-moistened towel slide over his ass and between the cheeks to rub him clean. Goosebumps were rising on the backs of his thighs, especially when he felt Rude plant a kiss at the base of his tailbone. “Trying to kiss my ass?” he joked, voice cracking.

“And succeeding,” Rude hummed, licking a warm stripe over Reno’s hole, and he let out a surprisingly loud moan. Reno bit down on the blanket under him, embarrassed about the fucking _sounds_ Rude had been pulling out of him today. He’d had plenty of sex, but apparently he’d just not been having _great_ sex, which was a bummer he could not let himself think about while Rude literally was causing his entire body to quake.

Reno felt the wet slip of spit slide down his balls and then let out a desperate whine as Rude’s tongue lightly pushed into him. He teased him this way for what felt like an eternity, Rude’s broad fingers tightly squeezing on Reno’s. Rude stopped with a thoughtful hum, laying a wet kiss on one of Reno’s cheeks. “Hm. Didn’t pack any lube.” 

“Just go in dry,” Reno shuddered, trying to push his ass into Rude’s face. “I’m used to it.”

“Used to—!?” Rude growled, and made a note to seek out _Kyle_ when they returned to Midgar.

“You gonna fuck me or what?” Reno complained, his irritation starting to grow as a dark cloud of memories started to pop up in Reno’s mind.

Rude leaned back, wiping off his face with the final dry part of the towel and then pushing Reno back onto his back. “It doesn’t feel good for _me_ unless you’re slick and stretched,” he said with authority, and then stepped off the bed. “Don’t move.”

Reno found himself grumbling at the second absence of the session, this one a full minute longer than the previous one. To be f air, the first absence had been worth it, and while a bit of lube would probably ease some discomfort, Reno was finding it irritating that Rude was treating him this way. He watched Rude step back into the room with a bottle of cooking oil with a big moogle sticker on the front. “ _Kuponut_ oil!?” Reno gasped, his aghast expression a bit more real than before.

“It’s neutral, it’ll be fine,” Rude said, raising his eyebrows as he found his way onto the mattress and in between Reno’s legs again, the place he’d like to stay for the foreseeable future.

“Whatever. I just don’t get why you gotta be like that,” Reno said, folding his arms over his chest and glancing to the side.

Rude let Reno pout however he wanted while he popped the cork on the bottle, letting a bit fall into his right hand. “Like what?” he asked, pulling Reno’s hips up his kneeling thighs.

“You’re treating me like…” Reno’s voice cut off as he felt the first broad finger circling his hole. “Like I’m a blushing virgin or something.” Rude fucked him with just one finger, Reno’s heart starting to feel very big and fluttery in his chest. “Like I…ah…”

“Does this not feel good?” Rude hummed, hoping the question would kick back some of the fight in him. “Do you not like it?”

“Nno,” Reno moaned, and then laughed. “I mean, it does feel good, I do want it.” His voice cracked as he felt Rude push in a second finger. Reno took it easily, his lips parting in an eager whine. “I just don’t know why you’re bothering.”

Rude shook his head a bit, more angry at himself than ever for making Reno feel unwanted before; he really was used to terrible romantic partners, and Rude had fucked up the man’s already tenuous trust. He bit his lip in concentration as he curved his fingers to start pressing into Reno’s prostate, and his partner let out a shuddering gasp so sweet, Rude felt it in his balls. “That’s why,” he whispered. “It’s so fucking hot just to turn you on, Reno. It’s as good for me as it is for you. Got it?”

Rude poured a bit more oil out onto his hand before he carefully set aside the corked bottle and smeared it over his heavy cock. He rolled forward so that it would be easy for him to press the slippery wet tip against Reno’s entrance.

Reno tipped his head back but still had to push himself up just a bit so he could watch. “Fuck,” he gasped. “Is it even gonna fit?”

Rude couldn’t help himself and slapped his dick just above his hole. “Do you want it?”

“Yes, for fuck’s sake,” Reno moaned, though it choked off into a bit of a laugh. “ _Please_.” It was easy to pretend to be irritated, but Reno was glad for the slowness as he felt Rude press against him and then slowly push forward. He felt huge, but Reno wanted him so badly that as he sank in, Reno only felt a deep rolling pleasure. He felt Rude’s hands land on either side of his head as he bottomed out, Rude’s voice a bare whisper.

“Fuck, you were made for me,” Rude said, burying his face into Reno’s neck as he set a very slow, but consistent pace.

That desire to complain was back at the lack of speed, but Reno had to admit each long pull back and forth felt _good_ , a hot buzzing feeling of completion that he had plenty of time to adjust to. Rude pulled away from him to just watch him from above, and that gave Reno the chance to watch back. His own hands were free to roam over Rude’s bulging tattooed arms, the swell of muscular pectorals, the glittering of the thick hoops in his nipples.

He also noticed that when his thumbs flicked over those rings, tugging them, Rude’s hips shuddered forward of their own accord, and a broad smile fell across Reno’s lips. He knew how to get the man to speed up.

His arms moved around Rude’s body, fingertips digging into the dense muscles on his back. When his nails scratched into his skin, those thrusts sped up in a way that was starting to shoot little sparks up his own thighs. He spread his legs wider, locking his ankles behind Rude’s tailbone. Rude groaned at him, moving faster.

This was why Reno had wanted his own turn to work Rude over; he’d had a feeling the man enjoyed being touched, and this proved it.

Reno reached up for his neck, pulling him down until their lips brushed together. “Rude, please,” he murmured, his own voice more wrecked than he expected. “Fuck me how you really wanna. Give in.” He kissed him, then, and felt Rude eagerly invade his mouth. He let him, the tips of their tongues touching in a way that was definitely driving Rude crazy. The man’s hands slid down and grabbed Reno’s hips so that he could fuck him fast, the sensation so hot that Reno could feel the precum pooling under his prick.

Rude stopped on his last thrust, pressing himself into the hilt and broke the kiss with a soft groan. “You want me to do that? Get too rough?” he whispered. His cheeks were pink with exertion, and Reno was doing his damndest to memorize that look.

“Depends. Do you like too rough?” Reno teased back, rolling his hips against Rude’s.

Rude’s brow creased in a way that made him look like he was guiltily thinking about what Reno said. “I try not to,” he admitted, one of his hands sliding over to cup the side of Reno’s face. His thumb slid over Reno’s cheek, and the redhead couldn’t even pretend that his face wasn’t lit up with blushing freckles. “I just want you to feel good.”

“Believe me, I do,” Reno said, and then actively pulled his own hips backwards and away until Rude had to choose between letting Reno do what he wanted and actively pursuing. He let Reno go and moaned as his cock slipped out of the tight embrace of his body. “But I also really wouldn’t mind if you made it hard for me to walk tomorrow.”

Rude stared at him in mild shock even as he watched Reno roll over under him, until the man was back to face-down and ass up, pressing back against Rude’s solid cock. “C’mon,” Reno teased, though his own voice was growing into a needy whine of his own. “Fuckin’ rail me.”

The argument was there in Rude’s mind, but he was having it with himself; he’d always been extra gentle with his partners because of his size in all respects. He was strong and, while not mako enhanced, materia enhanced after so long on the job. He was terrified of genuinely breaking someone like this.

But he was _dying_ to let go. And of all the people on the planet, he had a feeling Reno could hold his own.

Rude already made up his mind, but he was still overly cautious as he placed the head of his cock against Reno’s ass, knowing how easy it would go back in. Reno whined again, trying to push back, but Rude didn’t let him get what he wanted. Instead he methodically poured more oil over his hand while he tried to calm down. “You _still_ want it?” Rude asked, this time his voice the definition of a cock tease, and Reno’s hand slammed against the blanket.

“Fuck me or I’ll—”

Reno didn’t get the chance to explain anything as Rude rammed in all at once, the breath leaving Reno’s lungs with a gasp. Rude pushed Reno down into the bed, one hand holding him down by the back of his neck as he thrust, deep and fast. The oily slap of his hips slamming into Reno’s was causing the redhead’s eyes to roll back into his head. He was nailing the right spot every time — his cock was so big, how could he not — and Reno could barely make a noise other than choked off gasps of pleasure.

Rude’s hands came down to each of Reno’s wrists, holding him down while he held himself up; Reno’s heat was enveloping him with a perfect smoothness to balance out the brutal pace. Reno’s muscular back was flexed hard under him, like he was trying to get closer to Rude, and it just encouraged him to fuck him harder until he could hear Reno gasping out his name in sweet desperation.

The way Reno tightened up under him at that signaled that Reno was coming into the sheets, and the revelation made Rude crazy; he was buried under the desire for him all at once, and only at the last moment managed to pull out before he was shooting cum all over Reno’s hole and thighs. He’d half fallen over Reno, his own hand grasping his cock to milk the last of it out of him, his teeth buried in Reno’s shoulder to muffle the deep carnal groan.

He collapsed to the side, rolling off of Reno’s slippery body, in an attempt to catch his breath. Reno didn’t fair much better, only able to turn his head to look at Rude’s sweat-covered body with a grin that, had he had any more energy, would have been smug.

“Told you so,” Reno said, though his voice sounded like he’d been stranded in the desert. That alone caused Rude to laugh, an easy, genuine rumble that got Reno’s smug expression melting into something a bit more sappy.

“You drive me crazy,” Rude said, corner of his lip tipping up as he gazed at the ceiling. He felt Reno’s sweat damp hand slap down on his pectoral, and then he pulled himself up until he was laying in the nook between chest and shoulder. Rude gazed down at that mop of red hair, affection surging through his heart. He wrapped his arm around Reno’s shoulders.

“Yeah, well, you left me a fuckin’ mess, so I’d say we’re even,” Reno grumbled, and Rude’s laugh was even louder this time. “I want a shower, and food, and a nap, and then I wanna do that again.”

“What, you can still walk?” Rude teased.

“Yeah, you have your evening cut out for you, partner,” Reno hummed, still too exhausted to move. As Rude’s eyelids grew heavy, he was pretty sure Reno wouldn’t mind if the day’s agenda was slightly out of order.


	7. Because

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Because the world is round it turns me on  
>  Because the world is round, ah  
> Because the wind is high it blows my mind  
> Because the wind is high, ah_
> 
> _Love is old, love is new  
>  Love is all, love is you_
> 
> _Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry  
>  Because the sky is blue_

Reno sat above Rude’s lap, his towel half open and barely holding onto his hips. He was still damp from their shower — which had been an entirely new experience, attempting to see if there was some manner of covering the outdoor shower with surprising success — and full of energy from their nap. He could have eaten a herd of chocobo he was so hungry, but Rude’s lips, his body, were enough to sate the need for now.

They had spent extra time finally shaving Rude’s head again, Reno carefully helping with any spots that had been missed. The familiarity of Rude like this had set another strong desire in Reno, and he’d promptly pushed him straight to the couch after that.

Rude just had a coy smile on his face as Reno writhed above him. Reno leaned forward, teeth sinking into the thick muscles of Rude’s neck, and Rude hissed. Reno settled his hips down against Rude and began to grind on him through two layers of terrycloth. Rude finally got hand around of Reno’s wrists, pulling their chests together and swooping in for a deep kiss. The desire was sparking hard, Rude already suffering from under the towel, when there was a sharp knock at their door.

Reno froze for a split second, and then shrugged as he pressed more kisses into Rude’s mouth. “Ignore it.” Rude did, both his hands then sliding down to take handfuls of Reno’s ass.

The knock, again. “Guys?” came the familiar feminine voice. “It’s me! I uh. I brought you food?”

Rude groaned, head falling back against the couch.

Reno pouted at him. “Ignore—”

“Elena brought us _food_. Get up,” Rude grunted, standing up even as Reno still sat on his lap. Reno squawked, barely able to balance back on his feet, and sent a scowl in Rude’s direction.

“The hell, partner,” he grumbled.

Rude just rolled his eyes at him. “Go put on clothes,” he said, and Reno lifted an eyebrow at him as his eyes dragged up the visible hard-on silhouetted on Rude’s towel. “Go!” Rude barked. Reno strolled towards the bedroom with a ‘tut-tut’.

Rude opened the door and saw Elena behind a very large, heavy tray of food covered in foil. Her normally hard brown eyes widened in embarrassment as she took in the sight of him. “Oh! Ah—uhhm.”

“Come in,” Rude said blandly, stepping aside. The door quickly shut behind Elena with a burst of cool wind. Elena, to her credit, quickly made her way to the kitchenette with the food.

“Did I interrupt something?” Elena said, too flustered to be sly, as she uncovered the tray of food. The smell of stewed meat, stir-fried noodles, and fresh spring rolls wafted into the air.

“Just got out of the shower, is all,” Rude said.

“In _this_ weather?” She didn’t sound convinced.

Reno didn’t help as he strode out of the bedroom in a pair of tight cargo shorts and a large gray sweater that was _much_ too big for him. “There’s totally covers for them. Pretty cozy in there when you block out the sky.”

Rude’s mouth fell open at the sight of Reno in _Rude’s_ sweater. His fingers itched to touch him. He felt that withered erection jumping to life again. He realized he was just standing there, gaping at him standing at the front door, and rushed to the bedroom as a nuclear blush lit up his entire face.

Elena wasn’t in much better shape. “You _slept together_!” she accused, pointing at Reno just as Rude slipped into the bedroom.

“Nunya,” Reno said, sticking his tongue out.

“Sorry, what was that?” Elena asked, leaning forward and putting a hand up to her ear. “Oh Miss Elena! Thank you for bringing us life-sustaining food after sapping all our strength giving into five years of painfully unresolved sexual tension!”

“I said _nunya_ _business_ , Elena!” Reno shouted.

Rude stuck his head out of the bedroom. “Eight years.” He disappeared again.

Reno was the one to garner a hot blush as Elena’s face turned into a smug one. “Where’s my thank you?”

“Yeah, thanks for _interrupting_ the consummation of said sexual tension,” Reno grumbled, but was filling a plate with the food.

Elena’s lip curled. “Where were you guys? Were you on the couch? I’m not sitting on the couch.” She watched Reno smirk in a way that was so devilish, it seemed to slowly unfurl from the center outwards. His eyes landed on the kitchen table, and she lurched backwards. “No. Not the kitchen! Reno!!”

Rude came out in a tight black tee and loose gray sweats, like Reno’s outfit in reverse. “Not the kitchen,” he agreed, and bumped Reno’s hip with his as he stepped up to get a plate. “Yet.”

Elena sighed. “Well, at least it’s that. I’d heard some weird stuff along the grape vine about you two.”

The two had chopsticks and food in their mouths at the same time as they looked up in mild confusion.

“That really suspicious trio has been whispering about you in my art classes,” Elena said, leaning back against the counter and folding her arms. “They were sure you guys were fighting.”

“Why would they think that?” Rude asked, and Reno snorted.

“I haven’t been bar tending,” Reno said, “and you’ve been aggressively chopping trees like they personally offended you.”

Rude frowned. “Was it that obvious?”

“So you _were_ fighting? What the hell have you two been up to?”

Reno’s eyes widened. “Oh! Fuck! That’s right!” He put down the plate with a clatter and dashed back into the bedroom. Rude and Elena exchanged a confused glance as they heard the man throwing clothes around, and then stepping out, waving his sopping wet pants from earlier in triumph.

“Your…pants?” Elena asked.

Reno dug into one of the pockets and pulled out a wrinkled and water-damaged flyer, slamming it down on the counter for them all to see. _Save the planet!_

“Holy shit,” Elena whispered.

“The fucker had _boxes_ of these. We can get in any time we want, we just gotta figure out how to bring it up.”

“Why didn’t I know about this?” Rude asked in shock, finger sliding over the text _Join AVALANCHE_.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I guess you were running off with your balls up your own ass after you left me alone in a closet!” Reno snapped.

Elena’s eyebrows went up.

Rude’s mouth fell open. “I… Ah…” He crammed noodles into his mouth in shame.

“Where were they?” Elena piped up.

“Paolo’s place has this big motor home outside,” Reno said with a shrug, picking up the plate and stuffing his face again. It wasn’t unusual for him to talk with his mouth full. “If it’s there, Fierro’s gotta know about it, too. I bet he’ll be our way in. It’s too bad he doesn’t give two shits about me, otherwise I’d really give it to him.”

“You’ve got me, though,” Rude said. Reno just lifted an eyebrow at him, and Rude shook his head. “Sorry, what I mean is, you have me as a _bargaining_ chip. Ask him about the flyer and then accuse him of, you know. Corrupting your…” He licked his lips as he paused, searching for the right word to use. Elena and Reno leaned in, waiting for him to say it. “Partner.” Elena looked disappointed, but Reno’s expression grew smug.

“I like that,” Reno said, pointing at him with the chopsticks. “He’ll have to offer me an ultimatum. Hopefully it’s not his ass.” He frowned. “I don’t want that.”

“Wouldn’t be a very good ultimatum,” Rude agreed.

“So you think Fierro is in it too?” Elena asked.

“No way he’s not. Paolo’s definitely the ‘handles the hard stuff’ part, but you can’t recruit into a damn terrorist organization without having a bunch of charisma. Paolo’s cute, but I’ve hardly exchanged ten words with him,” Reno said with a shrug. “Fierro’s had his eye on Rude for a while now.”

“No wonder I couldn’t get recruited,” Elena sighed. “Don’t think I’m Fierro’s type.”

Rude shared a small grin with her. “You’re Bea’s type, though.”

Elena grinned, biting her lip. “A little bit.”

“Who the hell is Bea?” Reno asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Nobody,” Elena said, at the same time Rude chuckled, “The hot yoga chick.”

“Ohhh, braids lady,” Reno said, and gave Elena an approving nod. “ _Nice._ ”

“Can we please get back to your plan about infiltrating AVALANCHE?” Elena said.

They finished eating, but continued to plan on how to both get Elena into the group, and how to proceed with radicalization. They’d need to teach combat, target shooting, maybe some explosives training. None of the people on the commune were very _smart_ , so it was teaching a bunch of radicals ways for them to essentially blow themselves up. It seemed like a perfectly sound plan.

They’d made their way back near the couch, though no one sat. Elena had purposely avoided sitting on it, just knowing that’s where they must have been before. The two men had been steadily shifting closer, and Elena could tell they were itching to touch each other and unwilling to do it in front of her. She had just sighed and said, “I’d better head home. You’ll bring the trays back to the kitchens?”

Rude had nodded and waved her off. The door shut and Elena heard a loud thump. She stood frozen at the door, slowly turning her ear towards it, and heard the hot rush of words: “Fuck, you look _so_ good in my clothes.”

“Ahn..! Rude..!”

“Gonna fuck you while you’re wearing that sweater, right here—”

The words melted into the sounds of Reno getting totally devoured; Elena turned bright red and dashed through the drizzling rain back to her own home.

* * *

“ _You!_ ”

Fierro paused mid-step at the familiar sound of the hot bald guy’s irritating nasal boy toy. He merely plastered an indulgent host’s smile on his face as he turned. “How can I help you?” Fierro asked.

Reno was indeed looking indolent, rage flashing in those admittedly pretty eyes. “How _dare_ you!”

Fierro lifted an eyebrow. “How dare I what, honey?”

Reno slapped a wrinkled piece of paper to Fierro’s chest and his voice rose. “You were trying to seduce _my_ man into an _underground terror cell_!?”

Fierro’s mouth dropped open, reaching for the paper at his chest. It was their AVALANCHE flyer, water-damaged, but authentic. “Where did you get this?” he whispered.

“I don’t think that’s as important as what the hell you think you’re playing at! Terrorism!?”

Fierro’s teeth ground in a grimace as he tried to hush the redhead. “Shh—shh! Look. This is a misunderstanding.” He frowned. “Of sorts. I wasn’t trying to take him _from_ you so much as—okay. Wait.”

Reno looked unimpressed but stayed silent, encouraging Fierro to continue. “Why don’t you and your man meet with Paolo and I at the hot springs? We can work out whatever you’re worried about and put this _very private matter_ to rest, publicly.”

“But privately?”

Fierro shrugged, sliding an arm over Reno’s shoulders. “Do you have any love for Shinra Electric Power, my dear?”

Reno scowled and spat. “No.”

“Then privately, we have an offer I think you’d both like very much.”

* * *

The hot springs had been a rumor the Turks had heard about since their arrival, but had never been privy to them. They were a bit of a hike, nearer to the base of the mountain, and hidden behind large wooden gates that were more ancient than the colony. Paolo and Fierro were waiting for them; or rather, Paolo was waiting for them with a slight grin, offering them two clean, soft robes in his weathered hands.

The spring was a large pond, maybe a meter at its deepest, and a warm green color. It was surrounded by large, water-smoothed stones and greenery sticking out of them, moss filling in the crevices like a soft carpet. It was late in the day, the sun lower than the gates themselves, which put a welcome chill to to the air. The whole place had a softly volcanic smell, the sulfur dulled by the nearby scent of sea breeze and fruit trees.

Fierro was out near the middle of the spring on one of the small raised areas, stretched across two stones.

“I have to apologize for Fierro,” Paolo said as Rude and Reno took the robes from his hands. “I have to admit, we thought we kept a tighter ship than this. We normally wait months before we tell others about, well.”

Reno’s eyes glittered, tossing the robe aside as he started to strip out of his clothes. “The anti-corporate sentiments?”

Paolo’s face was tanned and lined, and his blonde hair was wavy but thin. His expression seemed to border on pained. “About our love for the planet, and each other,” he corrected.

“Ah, so is that why Fierro was so _friendly_ with me?” Rude asked, and Paolo smirked.

“He’s insatiable. I apologize, again.” Paolo’s eyes found their way onto Reno’s muscular nude form before the redhead closed the robe around his waist. “Some of us are more full of love than others.”

Rude did his best to tamper down on that surge of jealousy that scurried through his heart at that look. “So it’s true, then?” he asked, leaning down to pick up Reno’s clothes. He tapped his partner on the ass and pressed his mouth against his ear. “Go chat him up. I’ll take care of this.”

Reno rolled his eyes even as he felt his cheeks flush at the contact. He shrugged, making his way to the entrance of the warm pool and let his bare feet slide in. “Oww,” he hissed, and then threw the robe back onto the dry stones. “Hotter than I’d thought.”

Paolo turned his amused gaze back to Rude with a nod. He gestured in front of him, and they took a walk towards a small wooden deck where it was clear Fierro had tossed his clothes, and they had provided a cooler of canned drinks on ice. Paolo folded his arms and did not politely glance away as Rude started to strip. “It’s true that the commune is a half-front for our AVALANCHE branch,” he began quietly. Rude felt Paolo’s gaze running over his arms and shoulders. “We were such a particularly large group — I may have fudged the numbers with HQ and Domino — that, wherever that funding comes from, they really did a number for us.” He smirked despite himself. “It was a no brainer for an environmentalist group to start an eco-friendly home, you know? It seems fitting.”

“I suppose,” Rude hummed, considering leaving his underwear on around two people who felt like strangers. It felt more like a power move to let himself be nude, though, as he strolled past Paolo and made his way to the steaming pond. He could see Reno having come up on the same rocks as Fierro, though purposely not talking to him and not invading his space. Rude couldn’t help the slight smirk at the thought of the two of them attempting to vie for attention.

The sound of Paolo’s soft footsteps followed him, and the two tall men sank into the water with soft groans. It _did_ feel good, like that strange euphoric feeling a Curaga had for a few moments before your body started to knit its flesh together. “You don’t approve?” Paolo asked as they settled.

“It seems like that money could be spent helping take _down_ Shinra. The reactors. The things really hurting the planet,” Rude hummed. He’d kept his shades on and chose not to meet Paolo’s eyes.

Paolo was quiet for a moment, thoughtful, and then said, “You with Shinra?”

Rude felt a nervous jolt move though his back, but he pretended to feel relaxed. “Ex,” he said. “We both used to work for them. Couldn’t do it any more. Couldn’t handle what they were doing. To the planet, to the… people.”

It felt odd saying the words out loud that sometimes, in the dead of night, Rude found himself thinking in earnest.

That seemed to catch Paolo off guard. “You think we should be doing more… To Shinra?” he asked.

“You guys farm,” Rude said. “And you have money. You have the fertilizer. It’s the perfect place to build your bombs in peace, and then send your agents out.”

Paolo choked. “Bombs—!?”

“But you should be prepared to fight,” Rude continued, finally looking at Paolo. The man looked older, then, as worry crept over his face. “A place like this can’t last forever if you can’t defend yourselves.”

“Against what?” Paolo croaked.

“Against what else? Them.” Rude shrugged, gazing up at the rapidly darkening sky. Around the pond, powerful little solar lights were flickering to life. “That’s part of their sick power, you know? They always sniff everything out, to snuff it out.”

Paolo’s expression softened. “They hurt you. Someone you loved.”

Rude bit his lip, thinking of the dozens of times a mission had ended with Reno beat up and Rude patching him up, swearing it’d be the last time he’d let Reno get this hurt. “Frequently,” he muttered.

“You really think that sending bombs back would do anything?” Paolo asked. Both of them gazed out over to Fierro and Reno. The two had sat up, talking to each other. Their voices were getting louder, carrying with irritation as they bickered over something or other. Rude enjoyed watching Reno get pissed off, though he would have to hold him back. It wouldn’t help matters if he actually beat the shit out of Fierro.

“It’s the placement,” Rude said thoughtfully. He watched as Reno slipped off of the stones and slowly moved over to where he and Paolo were. Fierro, irritated, soon joined him. The two were massively different in looks, but similar in heights, and it was entertaining to watch the two approach their appropriate other halves. “If you can infiltrate a reactor…”

Reno’s footsteps were large and splashing as he approached, settling himself down in front of Rude. He lifted an eyebrow. “You’re already telling him to bomb the damn place?”

Fierro choked from behind him. “What—!?”

Paolo lifted an eyebrow. “So you two have wanted to take down Shinra for a while.”

“Shady can attest to that,” Reno said, rolling his eyes. He got up and laid on the rock next to the water, drying out again, still not able to bear the heat for too long. “They’ve brought us nothing but misery.”

“So why were you so pissed off about the flyer!?” Fierro nearly shouted, angrily crossing his arms.

Reno looked up and his smirk was broad. “Got us the invitation, didn’t it?”

“This is about the _onsen_!?” Fierro outraged.

“No,” Rude said, raising a calming hand. “Though I appreciate your hosting us here. We really do want to help. But we want to help in a constructive way.”

Paolo sighed as he pushed himself up and out of the water, seated on the soft stones until just his lower legs waved in the water. “And you would find fighting Shinra — really, physically fighting them — is a better use of time and resources?”

“If we don’t,” Rude said, a strange twinge in his chest as he thought about his words. He pushed himself out too, seated close to Paolo but not touching him. “If we don’t,” he repeated, “you could do all you could for your environmentally friendly commune, but when the last of the essence is sucked out of the planet…”

“Then there’s nothing to protect,” Paolo said voicelessly. Fierro came up to him, resting his head on Paolo’s thighs. Paolo petted his husband in uncomfortable thought. “Nothing to grow. Nothing to save.”

“Nothing to save,” Rude agreed. He knew the stuff he was spouting was bullshit — there was no way one city’s power source was going to have any effect on the planet in his life time, or even several generations. But there was just some strange little flick at the back of his mind that itched at him. _What if that were true?_

They were all quiet, then, seeming to enjoy the warmth they had. Reno was tired of the silence and discomfort and slipped back into the water, if only so that he could take a position similar to Fierro’s; his arms slid up over Rude’s thighs, sliding his way in between them so he could lay his head on the broad leg. He grinned up at him as Rude seemed to be knocked out of his reverie.

“So what’s the problem?” Reno asked, his nasal voice teasing. “We can help. We can teach you to fight. Hell, Rude can build bombs.” Reno’s lips fell to Rude’s thigh, planting one kiss on the sensitive skin. “He’s very talented.”

Rude felt the tips of his ears grow hot at the display. They were all naked, and Rude had not had Reno in this position before, so dangerously close to his dick. It felt like a dirty trick, and Rude was doing his damndest to stay cool.

“We don’t know you that well,” Paolo said quietly, though there was a shudder in his voice. Rude glanced over and could see Fierro’s fingers slowly sliding up Paolo’s thighs. “That’s what it comes down to. The trust is h-hard to find, so soon.”

“Fierro seemed to trust me,” Rude said softly, and for that he got a soft chuckle from Fierro and a sharp bite on the thigh from a jealous Reno. Unfortunately that just made his cock twitch to life rather than chastise him.

“Fierro thinks with his dick one hundred percent of the time,” Paolo said flatly, his hand coming out to card through the short curls on Fierro’s head.

“It’s a pity they don’t seem to like each other very much,” Rude said before he could stop himself. “Fierro and Reno seem to have plenty in common.”

Paolo hummed in agreement. “He’s certainly got the same fiery attitude,” he murmured. “I’d like to see what he can do.”

Rude watched one of Reno’s eyebrows pop up, the redhead pulling himself up out of the water so that he was on his knees, in between Rude’s. Just the sight of him caused the throbbing arousal to be harder to ignore. If he’d been looking elsewhere, he would have seen just how affected Paolo and Fierro seemed to be, as well.

“I don’t think he’d be willing to share,” Rude said softly, sliding a hand down into Reno’s hair until he was cupping the back of his head. “But I bet he’d like to show off.” Reno stared up at him with rapidly widening pupils. “Wouldn’t you, partner?”

The nickname would have been out of place for anyone else, but it just made Reno choke off a moan as he nodded.

Rude’s thumb slid over Reno’s lips, his head growing hazy with need. This was reckless, but he’d also never had Reno like this, and currently it was the only thing that mattered to Rude on this whole damn island. He finally turned his head to Paolo, allowing his eyes to drag up from Fierro’s bottom all the way up to Paolo’s eyes and everything in between. “Want to watch us?”

Paolo just nodded slowly, Fierro’s own head coming up to settle more comfortably against Paolo’s lap. Reno demanded all of Rude’s own attention, properly distracting him by placing one sharp, toothy bite deep on Rude’s inner thigh. Rude hissed, all his focus zeroed in on the man inches from his aching dick. “Alright!” he whispered, lips spreading into a bit of an indulgent grin. “I’m all yours, jeez.”

Rude watched patiently as Reno’s mouth moved from his thighs, over his balls, and then slowly kissed up the length of his hardening cock. Rude had half a brain cell left and used it to hold back the whimper Reno forced o ut of him as he teased the tip of it; Reno’s tongue was pointed and long as it slid over the wet contours of the head.

Reno kept his hands out of the way, too proud to use them, proving he didn’t _need_ them. He knew he was good at this; hell, he was a damned pro. When his lips parted and he let the fat head of Rude’s cock penetrate his mouth, Rude couldn’t hold back the deep moan. Reno’s eyebrows drew up at the middle and he freed one of his hands to touch himself, too turned on to deny _that_ at least.

Rude struggled to look away from his partner as he started to move up and down over the first few inches of him. Next to them, he could hear Fierro’s mouth working over Paolo, and he dared to glance over. Paolo had his eyes on Rude, enough so that he met Rude’s eyes and winked. Rude felt himself throb with need, enjoying the feeling of his cock in Reno’s mouth, but that stark exhibitionism was sending bolts of excitement through him; he knew Reno was gorgeous and talented, and it turned him on immensely that he was able to prove it and still remain utterly possessive. He didn’t mind who watched, but only Rude got to touch.

Reno pulled off, his lips bright red, his cheeks soft pink. “Is it good?” he asked, his voice teasing while his soft eyes cried out for validation. He swiped the broad side of his tongue over the head again, gathering the salty traces there. “You want more?”

“You know I do,” Rude murmured, watching Reno’s face light up. “Can you take it all for me?”

It could have been an odd question for a couple that was supposedly together for a long time, but all Reno heard was a new challenge that shot straight to his dick. “Course I can,” he teased, flaunting it, and slid Rude’s cock back into his mouth.

This time, Rude watched in awed silence as Reno sank deeper and deeper until his mouth, already stretched wide around him, met the warm skin at Rude’s groin. The heat of it was intense; more so when Rude felt Reno swallow around him as Rude twitched deep in his throat.

“Fuck, you’re amazing,” Rude groaned, his voice quiet but not missed by the other couple. “You’re always so good to me.”

Reno groaned at the reminder that, on top of showing off how good he was at sucking dick, he also had to lie about _this_. He did have a pretty decent fucking job for this to be a part of it, he had to admit. He pulled off of him with another moan, long strings of spit connecting his mouth to Rude’s flesh. He smiled impishly up at him. “Take off those shades,” he hummed, working on his own flavor of seduction compared to Rude’s methodical, loving kind from the day before. “Lemme see you when I swallow you down again.”

Rude’s hand moved mechanically up to his face to push his sunglasses up his forehead. Reno purred his thanks and then sucked Rude down again, this time moving up and down over the entire length of him with purpose in long, wet pulls.

Rude had to touch him, had to slide his hand over Reno’s shoulders and at the back of his head. Reno was doing perfect on his own, but that sharp feeling of possession came over him again as his fingers tightened in Reno’s bright hair.

Reno’s mouth went slack, giving Rude the option to thrust up into his mouth. He did, and they both moaned, moving together as Rude very slowly fucked Reno’s throat. He couldn’t let himself go any faster for the fear that he’d come too quickly — _again_ — and that was the last thing he wanted.

It did feel so good that he had to let go of him, silently asking him to take over before he actually started skull fucking him; he wanted to save that first moment of bringing tears to Reno’s eyes from fucking him so deeply for a less _public_ time.

After a time, Reno came up for air, visibly debauched. “You getting close?” he asked, and Rude felt the goosebumps raise on the back of his neck at Reno’s filthy mouth. “You want me to make you come?” Rude nodded, but Reno kept going: “Wanna come on my face? Make me yours? Make ‘em watch you do it?”

Rude already felt close just from those teasing words. He did notice that beside him, the sounds of sucking had stopped. The other men were jerking each other off, gazing intently at Reno and him. His cock pulsed with want. “Yeah,” he growled, “but use those hands.”

Reno didn’t seem to mind, a delighted little smirk settling on his face, as he brought both hands up to tightly wrap around Rude’s thick erection. Reno’s mouth worked over him again, being sure to make the kind of sloppy sounds that could coax a moan out of a damn statue.

“Reno,” Rude breathed, his chest burning with affection and arousal as he felt his orgasm coiling to a snap. His mouth fell open in a choked gasp as Reno pulled off his cock just in time to get splattered in the face and neck, his hands pumping Rude’s desire.

Rude was frozen, gazing at the man below him with such fondness that it was easy to hear their hosts rapidly chasing their own climax; Reno was leaving soft kisses over Rude’s dick, his heavy lidded eyes focused up on his partner. Rude couldn’t stop himself from reaching down and yanking the slim man up out of the shallow water and seating him on his lap.

Rude tasted himself when he kissed Reno hard, his hand sliding tight around Reno’s eager cock. His words were a bare whisper, meant only for him and not for their audience, just the breath shared between them: “You’re the best part of my life, Reno.”

Reno’s cheeks went bright red, crying out his name as he buried his face in Rude’s shoulder while the bigger man stroked him to completion. Reno tried to hide his whimpers against his skin as he came between them, his arms wrapping tight around the big, stupid romantic man under him. Over the sound of their panting, they could hear the other men gasping, the sound of spunk hitting the stones between them.

Reno let himself lean up, meeting Rude’s eyes for a long, lingering moment. Something that had always been there had exploded to life, and the inside of Reno’s chest felt like the inside of that church in sector 5, full of blooms. His hand came up, thumb sliding over Rude’s lip, before he pulled those sunglasses back down over his eyes. He glanced over his shoulder at their flushed hosts.

Paolo had a very dopey expression on his face. “You’re in,” he said with a grin. “Now who wants a drink?”


End file.
